That was Then, This is Now
by smanfan
Summary: Sequel to About a Girl and a Boy-Eric and Sookie were high school sweethearts, and everyone thought it would be forever. Unfortunately life took them their separate ways, what happens when they meet again at their 10 year high school reunion? AH/Eric Sookie
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: This is the sequel to 'About a Girl and a Boy'. It's not required to read that to understand this, but I highly recommend it. There are quite a few references to that story whether it's small details or inside jokes, it definitely adds an extra layer to the story in my opinion. You also really get to know these two when they were 15 in that story and their personalities. I also am posting this earlier than expected. I wanted to have a few more chapters banked but it's looking like this hurricane is going to have me without power for awhile. So you guys are getting the first chapter early! So on we go, lets see how our pair has changed or even stayed the same over the past ten years...**

Chapter 1

Eric's POV

_-This isn't giving up, no, this is letting go-_

I got home from work tired as hell. I spent the entire day arguing over job estimates with one of my coworkers. Usually we all got along great but today we simply did not see eye to eye. So I drove home still pissed off and turned up the radio to try and ease my mind. I flipped through the stations and all I got was hip-hop garbage. Where was the real music? Eventually I settled on some indie station and continued home. The calm and winding roads were familiar and felt like home now. It was not too long ago I thought this small town was insane and wished for the city. Actually it was awhile ago, it just did not feel that way to me. Out here the roads had no streetlights or sidewalks, they just narrowly sliced through the forest. It was late summer so the trees were thick with foliage. I was definitely looking forward to fall and the cooler weather.

When I reached my house I stopped my truck by the mailbox at the end of the driveway. I grabbed the mail and then pulled my truck into the garage. Then I headed inside to scrounge up something for dinner. There was certainly no wife hanging around to do that for me so that meant cooking for myself every night. Not that I seriously expected a woman to always cook for me... but it would be nice to not have to cook every night. I had been single for a long time now and it did not seem like that fact would change soon. My only serious relationship had been in high school when I had dated the same girl for all four years of it. But now I was 29 years old and had not been in another real relationship. I had dated in college and after...but no one ever made me want to settle down.

I put a pot of water to boil on the stove. I'd just make some pasta because it was quick and easy. I wanted to watch some television and collapse in bed for the night. While I waited on the water I browsed through my mail. I paused as I came across a green and yellow flyer. It was an invitation to my 10 year high school reunion. I cringed as I read who had organized the event: Nan and Bill Compton. First off they both never stopped being annoying as hell and second everyone was shocked when after high school those two got together. It was the strangest thing ever.

Normally I would not bother attending something like this. I kept in touch with the people I cared about. But there was one person's name my brain had been screaming since I spotted the flyer... Sookie Stackhouse. I didn't even know if she would go but I checked off yes on the invitation and put it in an envelope to send back to Nan and Bill. I supposed I could ask Sookie if she was going it was not like we ended on bad terms and hated each other. It was really quite the opposite, but we definitely were not best buddies now. A Facebook message from me would probably seem very out of the blue to her. Nah, if she was there I would just surprise her rather than come off as a creeper. It was insane how my mind was flooded with memories of her instantly. I remembered how good things were between us and definitely wondered why we ever ended it. Actually I wondered that numerous times over the past few years.

Once I completed my engineering degree and finished college, still without ever meeting anyone who really sparked my interest, I started thinking about her again. She had always been in my thoughts and I hoped she was doing well but after college it was different. I thought about how I had yet to meet someone who made me feel the way I felt with her. But I tried to push it to the back of my mind and told myself I was imagining it better than it was. After all I had been a teenager at the time and to top it off you always tend to remember things better than they were. But I always thought about her even if it was only for a second when I flipped by The Sandlot on TV.

So of course this reunion seemed like a second chance. It was the perfect casual way to really reignite our friendship and hopefully something more. There was no doubt in my mind Sookie was still the same person she used to be. Even though she was shy she never let anyone influence her life choices or how she treated others. As I continued making dinner I couldn't help but remember my last memories of her.

_Flashback, 10 years ago..._

"That's really what you want?" I looked into her eyes and could tell she was trying not to cry. Sookie slowly nodded.

"I just think... it might be for the best." She said quietly and wiped away a stray tear running down her cheek.

I sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Okay"

Sookie seemed stunned and sat down next to me. "Really? That's all you have to say?"

The truth was I had been thinking about what she just said for awhile now. It was the summer after our senior year of high school. In fact it was three weeks before we both started college. "I've kind of been thinking about this too. We both know we love each other but you're right. We owe it to ourselves to at least try and experience new things."

She nodded silently. I hoped I had not hurt her feelings by not putting up more of a fight. Maybe she wanted me to say no and fight for her? Nah, Sookie did not play mind games like that. She always said what she meant. Even if she was sad just like I was over this, it was something we both needed. Sookie and I had been dating since I moved to town when I was fifteen. Now we were eighteen and neither of us had ever been with anyone else. In our high school we both knew there was no one else we were interested in. But in three weeks we would be going to different colleges in different states. It would be hard to have a long distance relationship and apparently both of us were wondering if we should explore what else might be out there.

We both had gotten pressure from our parents to not be insane and get engaged right after high school. They all were seriously worried about us making our life choices based off of each other. Sookie and I weren't stupid though. I knew if we let ourselves base our lives off each other then someday we might resent one another for it. I did not want that. I was pulled from my thoughts when Sookie finally spoke up.

"You think we'll find our way back to each other?" She looked over at me and I could see the fear in her expression.

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer, which was very easy to do. Sookie pretty much stopped growing at age fifteen and finally at the end of our freshman year I started to grow up. Right now I was 6'3" but still a bit on the skinny side. My poor weight could not keep up with my height.

"If it's meant to be we will." I said quietly and could hear her sniffling and probably getting snot on my t-shirt. I didn't care though. "And I definitely think it's meant to be Sookie, I have faith in us." We just had to let go of each other for now, to make sure we did not end up hating each other. I felt her nod and her arms wrapped around me, hugging me closer. I would find my way back too Sookie someday. I just knew it.

_Present day..._

I remembered that conversation like it was yesterday. At the time I was rather frozen. That's how I tended to get when tons of negative emotions were swirling around in me. It was either I got numb or I lost my temper. The temper thing was rather new though and I was pretty sure it had to do with stress from work.

Me and a temper had never gone together unless I was around my father, you could ask Sookie and she would agree. But lately things at work had been getting to me. It was tough being the only person working for a family business that was not a part of that family. They hired me to get a successful engineer in their office yet I had to sit and watch as they let family drama get involved in what should be business issues. Don't get me wrong they were all great people but... yeah... work issues. I guess it comes with being an adult.

I went to bed that night thinking about the past and dreamt of only one person in particular. Hopefully I'd be seeing her again soon.

**a/n: So this chapter is just an introduction really to try and establish the setting. We'll be getting to more E/S interaction soon. At the moment it's also looking like this story might have more of Eric's POV than being 50/50 like the last one. Also please review and let me know your thoughts! I hope I still have some of my readers from AGAB! Love it? Hate it? What do you think Sookie's up to?**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: wow, you guys really surprised me with the quick response to the first chapter! I couldn't believe how many reviews and alerts this story already has! so as a present, and since I still have power hehe, ya'll get another chapter! Also to answer some questions from you guys: Yes this story will become M rated for later chapters, and yes there will most likely be some flashbacks to them in high school. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

It was finally the night of the high school reunion. I felt like a loser for being so damn excited over a reunion. It made me look like one of those lame jocks who went nowhere after high school and had to relive the glory days. I was definitely not a dumb jock and I had a good career going. However I could admit that when it came to my love life, high school was definitely my glory days. Well, Sookie was. That might be extremely lame but I just did not care. Since I got the reunion invite in the mail she was all I could think about. My mind was set on winning her back even though I had not seen her in about seven years.

Oddly enough my hair was almost the same cut as when I was 15. The big difference was I parted it and slicked it back some now. I did not just let it hang into my eyes and look like I just rolled out of bed. I stared at myself in the mirror and debated on shaving. Yes I even had facial hair now. It only took until I was 23 to be able to grow a beard. It was ridiculous. I only had a slight stubble on my face now and opted to leave it there. From the few women I dated recently I heard it suited me. I checked my watch and realized I was running late. I rushed to my room and grabbed the black button-down I had just ironed and threw it on, quickly buttoning it. I had to make sure I looked presentable to win my woman back.

A half hour later I parked my car outside the local bar this shin-dig was at. It was the only bar in town and usually it was full of old townie men who just got drunk alone. Tonight the place had a totally different vibe though. I stepped inside and noticed the green and gold theme immediately. Okay that part was a tad lame, I did not need to feel like I was at a school dance. I glanced around the room in search of a certain blonde but I did not see her anywhere. Damn it.

"Look who grew up finally" I turned my head and spotted Pam by the bar with Amelia. I smiled and walked over.

"Please Pam, you saw me last week." Pam was actually my neighbor now so we ran into each other all the time. Back in school she had continued to drift from Nan's crowd and became a part of Sookie's group of friends. Then senior year Pam and Amelia admitted they were dating which we had all known for at least a year prior.

"You know Northman if I wasn't with Pammy over here I'd be having you in a dark corner tonight. Getting older definitely suits you." Amelia's eyes were raking over me and I surprised Pam was not pissed at her. At the moment Amelia worked in Connecticut so she did not live with Pam since it was too far of a drive. She was trying desperately to get a job in Massachusetts though so they could live together.

"I'm glad it suits me since it took so damn long." I smiled and ordered a beer. Thankfully Amelia stopped checking me out. It was starting to make me uncomfortable.

Then I heard a voice I never wanted to hear again. Nan Flanagan...well Compton now. Why was she talking to me? "Eric Northman! So good to see you, Bill and I were delighted you could make it tonight."

I turned to face her, leaning back against the bar. Bill was standing next to her holding her hand just like he was supposed to. He dressed better than high school and had improved his haircut. I assumed Nan must be in control of all that. She always was about appearances. I had to hold back my grin as I literally looked down at Bill. He had not grown since he was 16 I bet.

"Happy to be here." I kept it simple, I didn't want her to stick around.

"You're here alone?" Bill asked and as usual he did not even have a sneer on his face. The guy just literally asked socially awkward questions.

"Yep" I was in no mood to discuss my personal life with these two idiots.

I turned away from them and scanned the room again. Where was she? Was she not coming? I knew she lived in up state New York now but I kind of figured she might visit for this. Don't ask me how I thought I was going to date a woman 3 hours away, I'd do it. We let go of each other years ago due to distance and I would never make that mistake again.

"I think who you're looking for is on the dance floor." Nan finally piped up in a rather snide tone. Was I that obvious? I looked out to the small dance floor and there she was. Sookie Stackhouse, the woman I was here to recapture, was moving around the dance floor like a goddess. I left the group at the bar and made my way towards the dance floor. I swear she looked the same as the last time I saw her 7 years ago, at a summer party Eggs randomly had. Sookie had always looked young for her age like I used to. But unlike me she seemed to have retained that and did not look a day over 21 when I knew she was 28.

I walked up behind on her on the dance floor and leaned down to her ear. "Boo!"

She was so lost in her own world she jumped and yelped. When she spun around it took her a few seconds to finally look up at me. Then a huge smile spread across her face. "Eric!" She immediately wrapped me up in a hug. Had this girl gotten smaller? Her arms felt so small around my torso but still familiar. I returned the gesture and picked her up and spun her around before placing her on her feet again. I didn't want to let her go but she stepped back and dropped her hands to her sides. She was smiling though so I took that as a good sign.

We moved to the side of the dance floor so we could hear each other better. "How have you been? Still in New York?" I asked.

Sookie shook her head. "I'm great and I actually just moved back to town last month."

My heart leapt at her words. This was really my second chance. "And you didn't come visit? Tisk tisk..."

Sookie slapped my arm. "Hey, I was busy moving in and it's not like I've heard from you lately either."

I frowned slightly because I did regret not keeping in touch more even if we weren't dating. "Yeah... you know I'm not really mad right? Life gets busy, we both went our own ways for awhile." I wondered if she could tell how much I had been thinking about her, or how much I wanted to kiss her right now.

"I know, it's been a few years but I can still read you like a book. You were just being a sarcastic idiot." She shrugged and then someone interrupted our conversation. Some guy with ruffled brown hair walked up and proceeded to put his arm around Sookie and kiss her. He kissed her! I had to remind myself she was not my girlfriend anymore so I couldn't just punch him in the face.

"Oh Sam, this is Eric! I've told you about him before. Eric, this is my boyfriend Sam." Sam smiled politely and extended his hand to me. I wanted to ignore it but I had manners and shook his hand. "Hey, I'm Eric."

"Nice to meet you man, Sookie always had good things to say about you." I wondered how much she had told him. Did he know we were much more than your typical high school relationship? By the way he was acting it seemed like he had no clue and probably figured Sookie and I just dated for the sake of having a significant other when we were teens.

"So what do you do for a living?" I leered at him.

"I own a restaurant a couple towns over. It's just a small place but we keep busy." Sam was being polite and unfortunately he was not a bum like I was hoping. Nope of course Sookie picked a successful person. I needed to find a chink in this guy's armor so I could win her back. God what was wrong with me? I was damn sure I was getting obsessive over here. I had never been like this before. Then again I never had to fight for Sookie before. In the past things had just fallen into place for us.

"Are you still an engineer?" Sookie asked and I was glad she remembered what I went to school for.

"Yeah, I work over at Sullivan & Sons next to the old country store. I'm the only engineer there." The company was small but I was definitely well compensated for my work. I really wanted Sam to leave so I could talk to her. "What about you? Still marketing stuff?"

She nodded and took the drink Sam had bought her. It was some girly mixed drink. I knew nothing about what she liked to drink since both of us were freakishly well behaved and did not drink in high school, except maybe once after prom. "I was working in New York at a place I had an internship in college. But I was waiting for something to open up around here, I've missed home."

Sam finally left to go get himself a drink and I had Sookie to myself for a few minutes. "How long have you been with that guy?"

"Um, just about a year now." She swirled her straw in her drink and didn't seem too interested in consuming it.

"Wow long time, good for you." I sort of meant that. I wanted her to be happy… but I wanted her to be happy with me. Not Sam.

She smiled softly and looked up at me. For a few seconds she just watched me and I wondered what was going through her mind. "What about you? Girlfriend? Wife?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, I'm a single man."

"Really? I figured someone would have snatched you up by now. Well I know you'll find someone. Maybe tonight too…." She started giggling and pointed behind me. I turned my head just enough to see Isabelle eyeing me like prey.

"Oh hell no! I'd never stoop to that level." Isabelle hated me in school and a few times even made fun of me for being little and scrawny. I wasn't about to forget that even if she was drooling over me now.

"So besides moving you up to anything fun?" She might be in a relationship but she wasn't married. I could still try.

"Now that I'm settled in I want to get a horse again. It used to be so much fun having Jupiter. But I don't have anywhere to keep a horse." Sookie's parents had knocked down the barn a few years ago since they no longer had animals on their farm. I ran into her father at the local diner sometimes and he told me.

"He was a good horse, once he stopped being scary." I smiled and Sookie started laughing.

"I remember how hard it was to get you to try riding him. You were so petrified, it was cute." She was smiling away and I just wished Sam would never come back. I missed this.

"Can we please remember that I used to be a city boy? That was a drastic thing for me to do." We were by the corner of the bar now and I set my empty beer bottle down. I debated a few seconds before offering. "You could keep the horse at my place if you want."

Sookie looked at me with disbelief. "You have a barn?"

I nodded and was way too happy about how this was working out. "I do. Right now it's basically storage but I could take the crap out of one of the stalls so you can use it."

"Why did you buy a house with a barn anyway?" I couldn't believe she did not remember.

"Because it was my house. Remember the old shitty barn covered in vines behind my place?" I waited for the light bulb to go off in her head.

"Oh my god the creepy one I told you was definitely haunted?! You bought your Mom's house?"

"Yeah she's engaged and lives closer to the city again with her fiancé. When she decided to sell the place I bought it since I already had a job in town." That had worked out well for me since I got a damn good deal on the house. "I've fixed up the barn a lot to use it for storage. A bit of work would need to be done for a horse to be in there but not too much."

Next thing I knew Sookie had jumped me and was hugging me again. I was more than okay with that. "Thank you Eric! Thank you so much! I'll pay for any repairs that have to be done and I'll be there to clean up after the horse. You won't even know it's there I swear." Okay maybe she was a little tipsy to be agreeing with such joy. But I doubted she'd back out now. This would be my excuse to see her throughout the week.

When Sookie released me Sam was coming back over. I reluctantly let them be but made sure to give Sookie my cell in case she found a horse soon. I really hoped it was very soon.

"Geez Eric wipe the drool off your face" Pam muttered as I wandered back to her and Amelia. I just rolled my eyes at her. I didn't have a comeback because I knew it was true.

**a/n: there we go, so now we know a bit more about Sookie. Hopefully she gets that horse soon... please, pretty please review! You know it makes me update faster. =) **


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: thanks for the reviews! you guys are blowing me away with all of the alerts and reviews on this story! it makes me write like crazy, so you guys get another update. =)**

**CHAPTER 3**

After the reunion I was left craving more time with Sookie. Sam had proven to be quite the distraction and he was definitely in my way for the time being. It was a good thing I had work otherwise my time would be spent plotting ways to get her back. That probably was unhealthy. So instead I went to the office each day and hoped I would hear from her soon about the horse deal. Two weeks later I was sitting at my desk calculating numbers when my phone vibrated. I noticed an unfamiliar number on the caller ID and opened the text message.

S - Hey Eric, this is Sookie. Would you still be willing to rent that stall in your barn?

I put down my calculator and smiled, quickly texting back.

E – Definitely, just let me know when you need it ready for. You find anything?

S – Thanks! I'm going tomorrow to hopefully finalize everything on this horse. So maybe end of next week?

S – I can stop by this weekend and start getting things ready if you don't mind a visitor.

E – No problem

I had to stop grinning like a fool at my desk. I worked on the second floor of a small office building and thankfully I mostly had the second floor to myself except for a meeting room that was rarely used. So no one else was around to watch me acting like an idiot. I really hoped she did not bring Sam with her this weekend. I wanted to have her all to myself for a few hours.

The rest of the week went by in a painfully slow manner. Each morning I wanted it to be Saturday and my counting down made it ten times worse. Sookie texted me a few more times to set a definite time to come over and check the barn out. Other than that we didn't say much to each other. I wanted to call her and just get a good update on her life. But I had to be patient. If she knew how interested I was in her she wouldn't end up renting that stall from me due to Sam. She would not want to cause drama in her relationship, I knew that much for sure.

When Saturday finally arrived I woke up much earlier than usual. I tended to sleep pretty late on the weekends still. I thought getting up at eleven was perfectly fine and then I'd just start the day with lunch. But Sookie was coming over at ten this morning and I was up by eight. I showered and ate a quick breakfast before pulling on some jeans and a t-shirt to go outside. I still had an hour before she would arrive so I got started on mowing the lawn. I started up my small ride-on mower and buzzed around the yard.

I was just finishing up the front yard when Sookie pulled into the driveway. I was happy to see the passenger seat empty. I quickly turned off the mower and went to greet her.

"You know, you wouldn't know how to drive that if I hadn't taught you." She smirked and I remembered all too well how embarrassing it was that my 15 year old girlfriend knew how to drive a lawn mower and I did not. But hey, I never had a lawn when I was in Boston.

"And I'm still thankful for the lesson. Even if you spent half of it laughing at me." I gave her a quick hug instead of the lasting embrace I wanted to give her.

"It was funny though, and Jason definitely laughed more than me. I tried to be nice." She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Sookie had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing jeans with a Wildcats t-shirt, it looked like a college team logo. Apparently her 'work in the yard' outfit was the same as when we were teenagers. Jeans, t-shirt, ponytail.

"C'mon I'll show you the barn." I started leading the way before she could notice me checking her out. We walked into the backyard and Sookie was quiet beside me. I looked over at her and she was just looking all around with an expression I could only describe as one of longing. Maybe I was imagining it?

"You okay?" My words seemed to snap her out of her reverie.

"Fine... just a lot of memories you know?" She shrugged and continued towards the back corner of the yard where the barn was. Oh I definitely knew, too bad only being here seemed to stir them up for her. Meanwhile I thought about her all the time since the damn reunion invitation arrived.

We got to the barn and I pushed open the sliding door. When we were kids this thing was practically abandoned. My mother never did anything with it and neither had the owners before us. Once I bought it I spent a lot of time out here doing repairs to make use of the space. Sookie seemed in awe as she walked in. I'm sure she remembered the creepy barn that we only dared to go inside of once then we got freaked out by a rat and ran.

"Wow Eric, this looks amazing. You did this yourself?" She wandered down the one aisle the small barn had and peered into one of the stalls.

"Yeah I figured it would be good storage. It still needs a lot of work though." I followed a few paces behind her.

"Um, you're into motorcycles now?" She raised an eyebrow at me as she looked into a stall that had three bikes parked in it. They were all old bikes I fixed up otherwise I'd never be able to afford them.

"I always was, I just never had the money to get one. I fixed up the two red ones, now I'm working on that black Sportster when I have time." Her father was the one who got me into mechanics. I spent many afternoons working on the tractors with him in the barn. At first I just handed him tools but eventually I caught on and was useful. Probably more useful than Jason ever was.

"That's amazing. I never did catch onto the mechanical stuff. That was always my Dad's thing." She shrugged and wandered down to the end of the barn. "you know I had him do a repair on my Toyota a couple days ago? I swear he can fix anything."

"Already taking advantage now that you're back home?" I grinned and opened up the last stall door for her. "So this can be yours. I can move all this crap into the stall I put the lawn mower in." It was just full of rakes, a leaf blower, and random yard tools.

"Thanks again, I really appreciate it. And you know I'll pay you a monthly boarding fee right?" Sookie was already poking around the stall.

"Sook, you don't have to pay me anything. I offered because I wanted to help out." And because I still love you...

"I know but I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of a friend. So please let me pay you? Even if it's just a small amount." Well at least she considered us friends. I could work with that.

"Fine, $100 a month." It was insanely cheap since I remembered her telling me years ago it could cost around $700 a month to board a horse somewhere. But I also had no riding ring for her to use. There were some old trails in the woods and an old paddock behind the barn that would need fence repairs. So there was a lot of work to be done that Sookie would have to pay for anyways. I'd of course be offering free labor whenever I was around. I selfishly wanted the time with her.

Sookie rolled her eyes at me. "Fine, but only until the repairs are done. Then I'm paying you more."

I shrugged and stepped inside the stall to start helping her move things out.

**Sookie's POV**

"What are you doing?" I was not going to use Eric's space and make him help me clean up. He was being more than nice by letting me use the stall and keep an animal here.

"I'm helping you out. You didn't think I was going to walk off and let you do this alone?" He gave me a look that meant to not bother arguing with him.

"Fine" I huffed. I was nowhere near mad at him I just did not want to take advantage of my ex-boyfriend being nice to me. Then again we were friends now right? I'm sure Eric had no delusional ideas about us nor was he pining for me. Our relationship was a long time ago and let me tell you, Eric looked like a greek god these days. I might be dating Sam but I was a woman with eyes still. Getting older definitely did amazing things for him. I always found him attractive but the years had allowed his body to finally fill out properly. He was no longer scrawny with a baby face, or too tall and lanky. Nope Eric was tall with broad shoulders, muscles I could see moving beneath his tee every time he moved something, and he still had those startling blue eyes. I swear he looked like some kind of rugged male model in a 'country theme' photo shoot while he moved around the barn. There was no way in hell he was pining after me when he probably had women crawling all over him these days.

Those thoughts were what kept me comfortable with him being so kind and confident that we were just becoming friends again. I did remind myself a few times not to check him out too much, it wasn't cheating but it also wasn't nice to do.

"So what's this horse like?" Eric asked as he picked up a bag of fertilizer and moved it to another stall.

"She's great from what I can tell. A big bay mare named Maggie, and she's only 7 years old so she has a lot more energy than Jupiter did when you knew him." Jupiter had already been 22 when Eric came into my life. He ended up passing away our senior year of high school. I spent plenty of afternoons sitting outside his empty stall only to have Eric come and sit right next to me. He usually was quiet and just sat there with me, it was exactly what I needed back then.

"I won't be riding this one then." He chuckled and came back over. "Does Sam ride?"

Now that was a touchy subject for Sam. I didn't think Eric would go pestering him about it though. "Well... he used to all the time. He rode western growing up and his family went to rodeo shows a lot. But one time a horse spooked on him, on a rainy day, and they both went crashing down in the mud. Sam's leg got pinned beneath the horse and broken in a couple places. He's fine now but that really shook him up and he hasn't been on a horse since." I explained sadly. It really was a bad accident and I felt bad Sam had not gotten past it.

"Damn that sucks." Eric went back to cleaning the last few things out of the stall. We worked in silence for awhile and I found it insane how comfortable I was around him. There was no need for forced small talk and it really felt like I'd seen him last week instead of years ago. I wasn't counting the reunion since we didn't really get that much time together.

"So what have you been up to? Fill me in on the life of Eric Northman." I smiled as we both took a break and Eric tossed me a bottle of water. I wondered how his Dad was, things had remained rocky between them throughout high school.

"Well I went to college here in Mass. as you know, for engineering. I graduated and started working at Sullivan's construction company then I went to school nights to get my master's degree. And I bought this house a couple years ago... and I guess that's it?" He shrugged and leaned back against the edge of the stall.

"You're more motivated than me. Once I had my bachelor's I was 100% done with school and homework. I just got that job in upstate New York and went to work. Then I met Sam when I visited Tara one weekend down here. She actually works for him and he was at some holiday get together she had." I explained. I was definitely impressed Eric worked and finished his master's at the same time. That was insane. We were quiet for a bit again before Eric spoke up.

"You want to hear something crazy?" Eric was looking at me with anticipation. I had no idea why my heart started beating faster while he was looking at me like that.

"Sure?" I had no idea what he was going to say or do.

"Do you remember that book you used to read all the time, the ghost one with the purple cover?" I was shocked he remembered that in such detail. It was my New England Ghost Files book. I nodded. "I swear I saw that red headed ghost on the road one night."

I busted out laughing. I was not expecting that to come out his mouth.

"You don't believe me?" Eric actually looked a bit hurt.

"No, no, I just never would have expected you to say that. You always made fun of me for believing it!" If he explained his story I'd probably believe him. Eric was never one to lie or create tall tales.

"Well yeah because I was supposed to be the brave guy in the relationship." He said as if that were obvious. "You totally freaked me out that night I rode my bike home alone. But anyway a year ago I was driving down that stretch of road around midnight and my radio started getting all whacky. I kept trying to change the station but every one was static. Then I noticed someone on the edge of the road. Just when I got close enough and had my headlights on him for a second another car came down the road. When I looked back to the side of the road he was gone but I'm telling you he had red hair and a plaid shirt. Just like that damn story you used to read." Eric looked a tad freaked out now as he told me this. I could see the conviction in his eyes. No way was he lying.

For a few seconds I felt like a giddy teenager again and I even jumped up and down a few times. "Oh my god! That's so awesome, you're so lucky!" I was overly excited about this but whatever I still liked a good ghost story. Eric was lucky enough to have lived through one of my favorite ones. I spent the rest of the afternoon questioning him on every detail of that night. If anything he seemed relieved to have shared his experience with someone and happy that I believed him right away. I had a feeling he had not told anyone else about it.

When I finally left that afternoon to go home I drove back to my place with a smile. I really enjoyed spending time with Eric again. I remembered why we were such good friends and I was glad he seemed to be fine with us just being that. We got along great and it was like no time had passed between us. I was definitely looking forward to coming back to fix up the paddock fence tomorrow.

**a/n: so just a bit of an explanation here, since quite a few people commented that Sam was no match for Eric. Keep in mind this version of Sookie views a person's personality first, and looks second. Remember in AGAB she started dating Eric when he still was all scrawny and looked about 12. I would have described him as 'cute' back then but definitely not the hottest guy in school. So yeah, just something to keep in mind while reading. =) Please review if you can, it's much appreciated and always gets you guys a chapter faster! =)**


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n: Howdy! I don't have anything exciting to say here... so ... yeah =)**

**CHAPTER 4**

**Eric's POV**

Today was one of those hot and muggy New England summer days. These were always the worst kind of days to me. The air was thick and heavy around you. Even if you sat still completely naked you would feel a sheen of moisture on your skin. It was just disgusting and I was partially regretting the fact that I promised Sookie we would fix up the paddock today. That was physical work and I truly wanted to sit in my air conditioned house and never move.

But I reminded myself I would enjoy spending more time with her then dragged myself outside. Sookie arrived five minutes early and hopped out of her car dressed in a similar outfit to yesterday. I wondered how Sam was feeling about this extra time being spent with me. Then again I did not want to ask and make her feel like she shouldn't be here. Sookie was nice, too nice sometimes, and me planting that little idea in her mind would make her ask Sam if he did not like her being here. So I would keep my mouth shut. If he did not like it then he would have to be the one to tell her. Until then I was going to enjoy every second I could get with her.

"Morning!" She practically skipped over to me.

"Morning" I grumbled but at least smiled for her.

"Wow, someone is still a cranky pants in the morning." She laughed as we made our way to my truck. We had to run to Home Depot to pick up some wood for the fence repairs. I already texted Sookie about it last night.

"Yep, I still think everything could get done at later hours in the day. There's this crazy invention called electricity, so you can work at night." We got into my pick up and I turned out onto the road.

"Eric if everyone worked at night nothing would get done, people get tired at night. Well normal people do." She started fiddling with the radio and eventually settled on a country station.

"What is this?" I questioned and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. I clearly remembered her having better taste in music.

She shrugged her shoulders. "What? It's nice to listen to sometimes, has a nice sound to it, and it totally suits the day. We're out in the country going to work on farm stuff."

"Aren't you the one that used to tell me just because you lived on a farm, didn't mean you had to listen to this crap?" Seriously I was surprised she was listening to it.

"Well I did think that. But Sam is a huge country fan and after a while I guess a few songs finally rubbed off on me." Of course that dork Sam got her listening to this. I'd have to make sure I played the rock station all day today.

"Why you still strictly listening to rock only?" She asked and thankfully changed the station to an alternative one.

"Yes and proud of it." I smiled and turned up the volume. I could see Sookie grinning as she looked out the window. I wondered what exactly was on her mind right now.

Twenty minutes later we pulled into the Home Depot parking lot. It was Sunday so the place was packed. There were families getting supplies for their yard work or home renovations and plenty of those newly wed couples who looked lost in the place. I always felt bad for them. It was obvious they got married and moved to the country to start their lives but had no clue what they were doing. If I had not moved out of Boston I would have been one of those people, at a complete loss when it came to anything involving home maintenance out here.

Thankfully Sookie and I looked like a couple of pros as we walked inside and navigated to the lumber area in record time. We also knew exactly what wood we needed and were not left waiting for some sales associate to come walk us through every damn size and type of lumber they had. I grabbed one of the big metal carts so we could stack everything up in one shot.

"Good morning sir, do you need any help loading all of that? Wouldn't want your wife to have to do all of that lifting. I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I just walked by." An older man said as he approached us, wearing an orange Home Depot apron. Sookie paused and looked like she was about to tell him we weren't married.

I jumped in quickly. "Oh no that's alright, I've got it. I think that poor couple over there might need your help more." I smiled at him and he nodded and continued on by. Sure I had no issue with someone thinking we were together. But I also knew either of us explaining the situation would just drag things out and make it awkward as hell.

Sookie still looked a bit flustered and just helped me finish loading the cart. We silently made our way to the register and I wondered why she was acting weird. It really was not that big of a deal. People did stuff like that all the time to me and Pam when we were together. People made assumptions, it happened. A little while later we were back in the truck and on the way back to my place. Sookie was still quiet.

**Sookie's POV**

I felt like a jerk. I was sitting in Eric's truck dead silent and had been since we left the store. That sales guy just really threw me for a loop. The second he came over and assumed I was Eric's wife I felt this flutter in my stomach and it was not in a bad way. It was the good kind of butterflies you get when you're excited about something. I was surprised to feel it. I definitely had not thought of him in a romantic way since seeing him at the reunion. Sure I thought he was handsome but that was not a big deal. I could look at a stranger and appreciate his good looks then feel nothing about it. But that flutter, damn I was sure I felt fifteen again and was seeing him on the bus for the first time.

I knew Eric noticed my change in behavior. He tried small talk a few times but I remained quiet. The poor guy looked pretty uncomfortable. I finally reasoned it out in my mind. I must have felt that because for so long I actually thought we would be in that place. Back in high school there was no doubt in my mind Eric and I would be married and going to Home Depot together to fix up our house. It used to seem like a definite future I could daydream about. Plus now I of course still wanted to get married, just not to Eric. That had to be it. I felt that because of the past and my current desires for something more with Sam.

I felt better once I had that sorted and tried to make up for being a weirdo for the past half hour. "So your mom is engaged?" I asked as we started unloading the wood. Eric had driven the truck out to the paddock so we could just pile up the wood right here in the center of it.

"She is. I think this is the happiest I've seen her in years. She finally doesn't have to work two jobs anymore and Henry is a really good guy." Eric seemed to genuinely like his mother's fiancé so that was good.

"Where did she move to?" I had not seen since senior year of high school. I hoped she came around here sometime to visit, it'd be nice to see her.

"Closer to Boston but not actually in the city. She liked it out here but she missed the convenience of things being closer. She's still surprised I love it out here so much since I was pissed when we moved." Eric chuckled and shut the bed of the pick up. The poor guy was already glistening with sweat in the summer heat. He always did like winter better.

"You were pretty grouchy the day I met you." I grinned and remembered how quickly he changed his tune.

"Yeah but that was mostly because of the bullshit with my Dad." Eric shrugged and started ripping off some of the old rotted boards from the fence line.

Now I assumed since he brought it up it was okay to ask. I was definitely curious but I understood that we weren't on the same comfort level we used to be. At least I did not think we were, so some subjects might be off limits. "How is he? Your Dad?" I hoped things were better.

Eric paused and I noticed the frown on his face. "Eh, alright I guess. After Selah left him he's been on his own and pretty miserable. I try to not fight with him but I can tell he wants me to pity him. When really I just think he did this to himself."

I wished things had improved but instead it seemed like they were exactly the same. His father had never dared to touch him again out of anger but they could never get past what he did to their family. I doubted Eric would ever truly forgive him. He saw how much it hurt his mother and he also loved his mom like crazy. He always did something nice for her on mother's day back when we were dating. Eric always respected her for all that she did for him.

"That's too bad. Maybe someday he'll realize he needs to deal with it and make his own happiness." It was really sad to see his Dad was only happy with Selah because she was younger and most likely the sex was exciting. Once she was gone I assumed he realized he had nothing without her, and to top it off he lost his family for her.

Eric seemed to be done with that conversation for now and he started drilling away on one of the boards. Hours later we were both covered in sweat and breathing hard. The sun was shining and I just wished a damn cloud would appear in the clear blue sky. I kneeled down for my last sip of water and when I looked up Eric was taking his shirt off.

Oh. My. God.

How the hell did he look like that? Seriously did he eat healthy and work out everyday? I was sure my jaw had dropped into the dirt while I openly gawked at him. He was always in shape before but now…. Damn he had some serious muscles on that body. You know how for some boys no matter how much they work out they stop gaining muscle at a certain point, and just lose weight? That used to be Eric and just about every other guy in high school. I think at that age guys just aren't fully matured yet so they're bodies don't add on muscle like they do later in life. But let me just say again, aging suited Eric Northman perfectly.

He had just the right amount of muscle too. I hated it when guys looked unnaturally muscular and like they were on steroids. If Eric was wearing a long sleeve shirt you probably wouldn't be able to tell he was so in shape, but the second he removed it you got to appreciate all of those fine cuts in his arms and torso. Yep it was pretty much perfect.

"Sook you want more water? Sook?" Shit. I shook myself out of my haze.

"Uh yeah, sure." I quickly started working again and stared at the fence as he walked by. Geez I needed to focus here. I had a boyfriend and his name was Sam. Remember that! A great boyfriend actually who treated me wonderful and was handsome and generous. Yes I kept that mantra in my head.

**Eric's POV**

Once I was in the house I was grinning like an idiot. I did not take my shirt off just to try and get her attention. I really was fucking hot. But it worked out to my benefit. I caught Sookie staring for a good thirty seconds when I asked her about the water. I was going to take anything that might work in my favor at this point. It was obvious she cared for Sam, but I wanted to remind her how much she used to care about me. How much she could still care about me if she gave me a chance.

So I got the waters and headed back outside. I was looking forward to how much time a horse took out of your life, because it meant she would be here caring for her new companion.

**a/n: hope you all enjoyed! and we got to see a bit more of what is going on in Sookie's mind. Please review! =) I grin like an idiot (just like Eric) whenever I see a new review notification! **


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: Once again I have nothing amazing to say... maybe I'll start my christmas wish list for good old Santa Claus. Think he'll send me ASkars in a santa hat? And maybe a new laptop that'd be nice lol. Anywho on with the show!**

**CHAPTER 5**

**Eric's POV**

I popped another chip into my mouth and continued going down the supplies list for a road construction job. We needed to get our estimates out to the hiring contractors tomorrow for the bid. We had lost our last two job bids so I was making serious cuts this time around, to try and make sure we would be the cheapest and therefore win the job. Our company needed work so we would not have to lay off men before summer even ended.

"Eric how's that paperwork coming along?" The older, gravelly voice was easily recognizable.

"Hey Mr. Sullivan, pretty good. I think we're going to get this one." I watched as he sat down in a chair near my desk. Apparently we were going to have a chat, wonderful.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Clancy?" He shook his head in a huff.

"Maybe a few more times." I grinned. Old Clancy Sullivan was the founder and creator of the small business I now worked for. He came from nothing and built this business to support his family. It was actually pretty amazing when I thought about just how much he had accomplished in his life without even a high school degree. Sometimes we all got a bit frustrated with Clancy because he was seventy-three and should be retired. Yet he showed up everyday and had to check on things. He just was not ready to let go of his business yet.

But he was a good man and despite our frustration at times I had loads of respect for him. He was great to his family and I always wondered why my father was not like him. We went over the job estimates and I ended up printing it out for him so he did not have to look at it on the computer. Clancy never quite grasped the concept of computers.

"So what has you acting different these days?" He had his glasses on and never looked up from the papers when he spoke.

"What?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"You seem in a better mood every morning. God knows you ain't a morning person." He chuckled and made a quick note with his pen on one of the prices.

"Um, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm sleeping better?" I did sleep better since I worked my ass off with Sookie half the time getting the barn ready.

"Son, I'm bettin' there is a little lady involved. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong." There was a knowing smile on his aged features.

I ran my fingers through my hair. Was it that obvious that I had a ridiculous crush like a little boy again? "Maybe… but we're just friends. She already has someone else in her life." I explained.

Clancy finally looked up at me then and his eyes were serious. He took his glasses off and paused for a second. "Let me give you one piece of advice, if this woman has had this kind of effect on you and you're just friends… you should find out if there could be something more."

I had never gotten advice from old man Clancy before. We talked business and sports usually. This was odd but at the same time who could give me better advice? He had more life experience than any friends my own age. So I decided to open up a bit. "It's complicated. We used to date a long time ago but we lost touch and now she's in a serious relationship."

See it was not as easy as Clancy thought. I could not just ask her on a date, she had a boyfriend.

"Son if I let 'complicated' stop me from getting Lucie, I would have been one lonely man." He explained and cut me off before I could explain the situation again. "I never even told my own boys this, but their mother was engaged when I met her. I didn't let that stop me though. I saw her and I knew she was the one. When someone makes you feel like that, you don't let them get away." With that Clancy slowly stood up and made his way downstairs. A few minutes later I heard him leave with one of his sons to get coffee.

I sat in my chair thinking about what Clancy had just said to me. I wondered if I should be doing more to try and get Sookie back. Right now I was hiding behind the guise of friendship and she had no idea I felt anything for her. What if I kept up this act and Sam proposed to her? Then I'd be screwed. I would even look like an ass because I waited for her to basically belong to someone else before speaking up. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my stomach in knots as I debated on what to do. Part of me wanted to go with the current plan and another part of me wanted to make my move the next time I saw her. If she felt anything for me then I'd know and if not I would suck it up and be her friend. But the idea of her rejecting me made my stomach turn. It was foolish to let fear hold you back but it was damn intimidating when I was so confident she was the one.

A couple days later it was Saturday and Sookie was coming by to drop off her new horse. She had picked her up that morning and was driving straight here. I had not decided if I was going to say anything yet. At the very least I figured I could do more than I had been. In my head I had really thought my plan was working fine and my determination would get me what I wanted. However Clancy's wise words stirred up my nerves. So now I was trying to push myself to do more.

I heard the truck pull into my driveway and headed outside. I was going to do something, I just had no idea what yet. Sookie jumped down from the truck looking tired but happy. She had said the farm was a few hours away where she bought the horse so it had been an all day ordeal.

"Hey!" I smiled and wrapped her up in a hug. I made the conscious choice to hug her longer than necessary. Baby steps right? "Let's see this new horse!"

Sookie stepped back and smiled then yelled to the other side of the truck. "Sam! You mind helping me unload her?"

Great Sam was here, this sucked. I thought he was afraid of horses now? Apparently Sookie could read the shock on my face. "He knew this was a big day for me, and mostly he's just nervous about riding." She whispered quietly then headed to the back of the trailer.

I had been secretly hoping the horse would be like magic Sam repellant. With a sigh I headed around and watched them undo the latches on the back of the trailer. I gave Sam a nod and he smiled over at me. God I really wished he seemed like an ass so I could just hate him. But no instead he seemed perfectly kind every damn time I saw him. I helped Sam lower the ramp while Sookie went into the trailer to back the horse out.

"Thanks for helping out Eric, Sook is really excited about this." Sam grinned and stepped back as the horse started backing down the ramp. I wanted to leer at him but he was so freaking sincere I forced myself to nod and look polite.

Sookie continued backing the horse up until she was standing in the middle of my driveway. "Eric, this is Maggie." She said with obvious pride.

I kept my distance since Maggie sure as hell had ten times the spunk of old Jupiter. She was about the same height as him but had a much lighter build. I vaguely remembered Sookie saying she was half Thoroughbred, which was the breed of horse you saw at the Kentucky Derby. I figured that meant Maggie was probably fast too. The horse had her head up high and was inspecting her new surroundings. Every few seconds she would quickly side step, as if she was a kid with ants in their pants. Sookie remained calm though and let her adjust to the new atmosphere for a bit.

"She's a nice looking horse. Definitely different from Jupiter." I still missed that old guy. Actually he kind of reminded me of Clancy Sullivan, if he were ever to be an animal. Jupiter always seemed old and wise when I used to stare up at him in awe…and slight fear when I was fifteen.

"Yeah but you'll learn to love her. Even though I'm sure you'll be afraid of her for a few days." Sookie giggled then started leading Maggie to the barn once she calmed down some. God her laugh sounded exactly the same. It made me remember the hundreds of times I made her laugh years ago.

We got out to the barn and Sookie put Maggie into the freshly bedded stall. Then Sam suddenly pulled out his cell phone and said he had to take a work call. He walked out of the barn and his voice was a distant murmur to us. I walked over to the stall and tentatively patted Maggie's neck while Sookie filled her water bucket.

"She won't bite I swear." She smiled from inside the stall.

"You don't know that for sure, you just got this one." I reminded her then Maggie decided to reach out and nibble my hair. I jumped back, not expecting her mouth to be on my head. Sookie just busted out laughing and was now leaning against the horse while catching her breath. I glared at her. Wasn't I allowed to be nervous around a thousand plus pound animal?!

"Oh my god" She breathed "You looked like such a goofus jumping back like that." Sookie's face was red from laughing.

My own slightly offended mood quickly melted away at her words. She remembered, and that gave me hope. I stepped over to the stall again and rested my elbows on the edge of the door. It was a half door so it only came halfway up my torso. Maggie was busy eating her hay so Sookie was able to stand across from me. "Been watching some kid's movies lately?" I smirked.

"Not recently but if I recall correctly you usually had a comeback for that. Maybe you're just forgetting in your old age though." She smiled up at me with a challenge in her brown eyes.

I noticed her hands were resting on the stall door between my arms now. She was so close that I wouldn't have to lean forward much and I remembered Clancy's advice clearly. I looked into her eyes and could swear I noticed something else in them.

"I'd never forget anything involving you Smalls." I whispered then leaned down to kiss her. I was not going to waste anymore time, I'd take my chance right now.

**a/n: Yes I'm leaving things right there. -puts on evil grin- Let me know your thoughts! Review, review, review! =D **


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n: Thanks for all the reviews last chapter you guys kick ass! I'm so glad some people liked Clancy! I adore him and he will appear again down the road. I just picture him as this cute little old man, who even though he can be a bit smothering at work, really has a good heart. And the best freaking advice! lol **

**Lets see what the heck is going to happen!**

**CHAPTER 6**

**Sookie's POV**

I couldn't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside when Eric called me Smalls. I never thought I would hear that nickname again. It had always been something we kept between us. It wasn't one of those nicknames that spread throughout your group of friends and eventually everyone was calling you that. It was always just Eric. His face got all serious and he started to lean closer to me.

"Hey Sook?" Sam's voice echoed down the barn aisle and I my head darted to the side. I saw him quickly striding down the aisle. When I looked back to Eric he was back standing in the middle of the aisle again. Had I imagined him being that close? I didn't think so but I probably imagined the part where it seemed like he was trying to kiss me. I was probably just letting my tired brain get to me. I was worried Eric felt more for me than friendship, but maybe I was just projecting my worries onto him. There was no way he would have tried to make a move on me with Sam right outside. I brushed it off and even chastised myself for being ridiculous.

"What's up?" I stepped out of Maggie's stall.

"Hun, I'm sorry but I have to run down to the restaurant, some kind of customer emergency." Sam explained. "I know it's a big night for you, I can go on my own if you want."

I wished he could stay and help me out with Maggie but I knew work was important. He owned the business so he had to be the responsible one. I was just glad he wasn't a jealous jerk that would make me go with him because he had to keep an eye on me. Tara had a few boyfriends like that over the years. The crazy jealous ones that had to keep tabs on her. "That's fine but I don't have a ride back home. I can just go with you. Maggie should be alright tonight."

"I can give you a ride if you want to stay, I don't mind." Eric offered.

I looked to Sam and he seemed fine with it. "Okay that'd be great. Thanks Eric." I gave Sam a hug and kiss goodbye then he rushed out the door. I heard the truck start up and head out of the driveway.

Sam left and that meant Eric and I were on our own. The second my boyfriend was out the door Eric became a chatter box.

"So how was the drive?" He stepped up to Maggie's stall again and was cautiously petting her.

"It wasn't bad, we avoided all the traffic and took some back roads. Sam is like a walking GPS, I swear, he knows all the back roads in western Mass. somehow." I was horrible with directions so it was no shock Sam was my superior there.

"That's good. So can you ride her now?" Maggie was trying to nibble on Eric's t-shirt now but he kept moving just out of her reach. She definitely was not a shy horse.

"Technically I could, but I'm going to give her a few days to settle in." I even had my new saddle hanging up in the old, tiny tack room of Eric's barn. Sam had taken it all out of the trailer and put it on the rack Eric and I had put up last week. I ducked inside the room quickly and grabbed a few peppermints from the jar. I placed one in Eric's hand.

"That's not for you either. It's for the horse." I remembered Eric assuming any food in front of him must be his. Once he had his growth spurt the boy was always hungry.

"I know... I am hungry though." He held his hand out flat just like I had taught him with Jupiter. Maggie quickly snatched up the treat and was crunching away. This really felt like a memory playing out before my eyes. The only difference was Eric was older and the horse was a different color. It was crazy but spending this time with him over the past couple weeks made me realize how much I missed this.

"You're always hungry." I rolled my eyes.

"Very true, you want something to eat? We could order a pizza or something." Eric finally caved and let Maggie nibble on his shirt. "Unless you want to get home for dinner with Sam."

I debated then decided I might as well. Whenever Sam got calls from work he usually ended up there until almost closing which was midnight for his restaurant. I spent plenty of nights home doing nothing in the past in hopes he might get out earlier. Tara always said it was stupid, but I just wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. We both had busy schedules so if he got back early I ought to be around. That would be one of the things Tara accused me of being too nice about and honestly lately I usually went out if the opportunity presented itself. There was no point in me sitting home when I knew Sam would not be back until late.

"No pizza sounds good. I'm sure Sam will just grab something at work." The smile on Eric's face was adorable as he went off to call the pizza joint. I was looking forward to hanging out with him tonight. Sure I had seen him lately but we were always working on the barn, or the paddock fence, never just hanging out.

**Eric's POV**

Sookie was staying for dinner and I was beyond happy about that. Sam had thrown me off earlier and I was glad he was gone. It seemed like Sookie had not noticed what I was about to do before Sam came back. That was possible since I'd literally just made the snap decision when he came running back into the barn. Maybe it was for the best, I definitely had not picked the best time to go for it. I did hope he had a million more work emergencies though.

I called in the pizza delivery and made sure to get black olives on half the pizza. They used to be Sookie's favorite topping. I let her stay out in the barn on her own for awhile with Maggie. If she was anything like her fifteen year old self I bet you fifty bucks she was out there having a conversation with the horse. I walked into the barn countless times when we were teenagers and could hear her quiet voice as she chattered away with Jupiter. Sookie was always classified as 'shy' by everyone but maybe she just needed the right person to listen. Because she certainly always had plenty to say to that old gray horse, and to me for that matter.

Once the pizza arrived I headed out to the barn to get her. I grinned as I heard her voice when I walked through the backyard. Yep, some things never change. I paused just outside the barn door though. It was probably wrong to eavesdrop but her words caught me completely off guard.

"Sam is a really good guy Maggie, you know I've been waiting for him to propose? " Sookie's voice was just a whisper. I was floored. I seriously did not think their relationship was at that point. I decided I did not want to hear anymore and made my presence known.

"Sookie?" I walked right in as if I had just crossed the yard.

"Hey!" She smiled brightly and stood up from the milk crate she had been sitting on.

"Pizza just got here, hope you still like olives?" I was just going to act like I heard nothing. Clancy would probably call me a wimp but hearing that also made me lose all the courage I had mustered up to make a move.

"Definitely! You have any good dinner movies?" She asked as we trekked up to the house.

**Sookie's POV**

Eric had just left to order the pizza and I wasn't ready to leave my new friend yet. I pulled up a milk crate and sat outside Maggie's stall. She was peering over her stall door and looking around her new home curiously. I looked around once more to make sure I was alone before speaking.

"So Maggie, you don't know me too well yet but I'm sure we will get to know each other fast. I used to have a horse named Jupiter. He was pretty great, I went to him for advice all the time. Horses are the best secret keepers. So for now you're the only one I'm confessing this to. You know Eric? The big blonde hulk you scared before? He used to be my boyfriend a long time ago. I thought we'd be great friends now but... I don't know." I sighed and the horse was looking right at me. Maybe she was actually listening, who knew.

"At first it was perfect but the past few days I keep wondering about him. He's the same good guy he always was, he's funny, smart and even a total goofball at times. It makes me wonder if there could be something more again, then I worry I'm just missing the past... Sam is a really good guy Maggie, you know I've been waiting for him to propose?" The only problem was lately I was not so sure I wanted that anymore. Actually I misspoke slightly, I had stopped having those thoughts even before the reunion. Mostly it was due to Sam's work/life balance being so out of sync. I felt like I needed to sit down and talk with him about that being fixed before thinking about marriage anymore. I really thought I was happy with Sam despite our minor issues, but Eric was churning up all these old feelings in me. I abruptly stopped speaking when Eric came in to announce dinner was here. I hopped up and followed him to the house.

We headed inside and it was the first time I'd been in Eric's house besides running in to use the bathroom while working outside. The familiar surroundings brought on many memories. Eric lead the way into the living room and I noticed a few key changes. There was now a 40" flat-screen TV instead of the smaller console his mother used to have. I shouldn't be surprised that would be the first thing any man would invest in. The pictures on the walls had also changed. I'm sure his mother took her photos with her so in their place there were only a few photos and the walls looked almost bare. One picture was of Eric and his mom, it looked to be only a few years old. There was another of him and... Pam? Weird.

"Hey, you hang out with Pam?" I did not remember them being that close in high school.

"Yeah, she's actually my neighbor now." He plopped down on the black leather couch and opened the pizza box. The couch was at least the same. It was just a plain black piece of furniture so I supposed it was manly enough for Eric.

"That's cool. Are her and Amelia still together? I didn't get a chance to talk to them at the reunion." I hoped they were, I really started to like Pam once she got away from Nan.

Eric nodded and was already shoving pizza into his mouth. I finally took a seat next to him and put a slice of black olive pizza on my plate. I noticed the two cans of coke and quickly grabbed one.

"You're not one of those diet soda people now are you? Because I only have regular." Eric grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels.

"Hell no, if I'm going to be bad I might as well do it right." I smiled and took a sip of my coke. I never saw the point to diet soda. If I was making the choice to drink soda I might as well enjoy it. It wasn't like I lived off the stuff.

"Glad to see you haven't changed." Eric smiled and I had a feeling he was talking about more than soda.

I leaned back and got comfy on the couch with my pizza plate in my lap. I tried not to think about the many other times I had been on this couch, with Eric on top of me. "So what movies do you have?" I needed to distract myself. I had Sam, my current boyfriend, to remember.

"Well I have no chick flicks. But hmmm, I have tv shows on DVD too." He explained and that was when I noticed the DVD case sitting on the end table.

"you have Friends? Lets watch that, I love that show." I didn't even care what season it was. I had every episode memorized by now.

Eric got up and put one of the discs into the DVD player and the episode started. It was the one where Joey got the chick that became him and Chandler's pet. We both were devouring the pizza and laughing at all the same parts of the episode.

"I think I'm going to get a duck." Eric nodded and looked dead serious.

"Are you crazy? What are you going to do with a duck?" I laughed.

"Name it Chandler and keep it in my house?" He looked at me like it was the obvious answer.

"Okay I'll bring my pet rooster Joey." I rolled my eyes and realized my face hurt from smiling so much all evening. I don't remember the last time I had this kind of fun with Sam. We had fun together but not the same kind of fun. I felt like I could act like an idiot with Eric and argue about pointless things for hours, in some weird way it was a blast.

"I do want a dog though. I keep thinking about getting one, but I'm just at work a lot during the week. I doubt I'd have time to train a puppy." He frowned and popped a piece of crust into his mouth.

"You could always adopt an older dog, that's already house trained." People always thought of puppies first and who could blame them? They were adorable and it meant you did not have to fix other people's training mistakes. But it was possible to adopt a dog that was only a couple years old and if it was from the right owners you wouldn't have to worry about retraining them.

"That's true... I'll think about that. I need to make sure he's a badass though, like a german shepherd or a mastiff. Oh, just like Hercules!" Eric's face lit up like a little kid.

"Then I could get him a shirt he could wear and write his name on it?" I laughed and Eric started laughing too. We were such losers when it came to the Sandlot. Seriously, we were both almost thirty and still joking about a movie for ten year olds.

We ended up watching three more episodes of Friends and went through two more cans of soda each. I was going to have to go for a run in the morning and eat salad the next day. Once it was time to head home I got into Eric's truck and directed him towards the small house I was renting on the other side of town. The roads were dark as always and we even saw a coyote scamper across the road up ahead.

"So... do you live with Sam?" He asked as he turned down another narrow road.

I realized I had never really explained my living situation to Eric. "No I actually rent my own place. Sam lives a couple towns over closer to his business." I'd thought about living with him and he even offered but... for some reason I did not take him up on it right away. I couldn't tell you exactly why. "But once I found this place in the listings, super cheap, I wasn't going to pass it up. And what I really wanted was to move back here. I missed having my family fifteen minutes down the road and Jason actually is only five minutes away from me now." I smiled. My brother had married Jess and they had twins, a boy and a girl. They were adorable but exhausting since they always had energy. I had no clue how Jess kept up with them.

"How is Jason? Still with Jess?" Eric had never turned into Jason's best buddy but they definitely got along as time passed. Mostly because Jason actually became a better guy with Jess around. He stopped being a man whore and actually treated people with some respect. That was when Eric finally tolerated him and gave him another chance. It was pretty funny that Jason still thought he was the one giving Eric the second chance after the barn incident.

"Yep, married with kids and he wants another one." I knew Jess put a stop to that. She did not want a third rugrat to keep track of yet.

"Wow that's great. I heard he had the twins awhile back from Eggs. I ran into him at the Cork & Bottle" The Cork & Bottle was this old country store and it was actually the only shop in town besides the one gas station we had. Now that I thought about it, it was actually across the street from Eric's job.

"You remember the summer we rode our bikes there everyday?" The summer after our freshman year Eric and I still weren't old enough to have licenses. So we rode our bikes to that tiny store at least three times a week and would buy sodas and chips. It was the only way we could have some sort of independence.

"Yeah" He smiled. "That was a fun summer. Whenever I think about being a kid that's usually the first summer I think about." Eric seemed lost in his own thoughts but in a good way. Like me he was probably thinking about all of those bike rides and the silly conversations we had during them. It was definitely one of the last memories I had of 100% being a kid.

A few minutes later we pulled into my driveway. I now lived in a small red house that could definitely use a bit of TLC. It was nice inside though and everything was spotless. Eric got out of the truck to walk me to the door. This oddly felt like the end of a date.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow at some point? I'm going to stop by and check on Maggie."

"Actually I'll be visiting my Mom all day. She's been begging me to come spend the day with her instead of just stopping by for dinner." Eric replied.

I was disappointed I wouldn't see him but then told myself I was being ridiculous. It was one day, I'd be fine not seeing Eric for a day or two. Plus Sam would be around all day tomorrow since he was off work. "oh that's good. Tell her I said hi?"

Eric nodded and gave me a hug goodnight. I wrapped my arms around his middle since he was a bit too tall to put my arms around his neck comfortably. He felt nice and warm compared to the cooler night air. He also smelled amazing. Then again he always had. I used to just bury my face in his chest and breathe him in. At first he laughed at me but then it became such a regular habit he barely noticed. I felt him lightly kiss the top of my head before pulling back. Were friends supposed to do that?

"Goodnight Sookie" He gave me a small smile then headed off to his truck. I chose to not over think it. But I did decide that tomorrow I was definitely going to have a chat with Sam about our relationship. I was not happy with certain things and finally decided I needed to bring it up with him.

**a/n: There you have it! Poor Sookie is in a bit of denial, but it works in our favor for now because she thinks it's fine to spend a 'friend' night with Eric! We'll see a lot more Sam in the next chapter and let me tell you a lot of shit goes down in chapter 7. So get effing pumped!**


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n: Here we go... I'll be interested in everyone's reactions after this chapter. The rating was bumped up to M, but that is just a precaution.**

**Chapter 7**

**Sookie's POV**

I went to bed that night with Eric on my mind. So it was no surprise my thoughts were focused on the past while I waited for sleep to take over.

_Flashback_

I sat down at the computer as soon as I got home from school Friday afternoon. I had plans to confirm since I still had no cell phone. My parents insisted that a 15 year old did not need one. The only time I ever wished for one was when I was trying to make plans with Eric.

**ENorthsox51: Hey! Meet me at the basketball hoop still?**

**Sook1e: Yep! See you there, leaving now!**

**ENorthsox51: Same here, bye!**

I yelled goodbye to my mother and to Jason who was on the phone with Jess. He was becoming a much more likeable brother now that she was around. They only started dating a couple months ago but I had my fingers crossed it would last. However knowing my brother I'd most likely be married with kids before he managed to get engaged. I went into the barn and grabbed my bike which was shoved in a corner to keep it out of the rain.

"Later Jupiter!" I buzzed past my old horse and rode my bike out to the road. I turned down the street and headed towards Eric's house. Ten minutes later I could see Eric in the distance, riding down the road on his black BMX bike. There was a big oak tree on the side of the road with an old rusted basketball hoop nailed into it. We always met at that part of the road since it was almost halfway between our houses.

"I think I beat you this time." Eric smirked as I pulled my bike to a stop next to him.

"Whatever! I have a longer driveway to walk down, I think that makes it a tie." It definitely took me way more time to just get to my house after the bus dropped me off. Eric should know that since he came over every Tuesday night for dinner. He was just being a loser.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night Smalls" He grinned and started riding down the road again. If he wasn't so cute I'd probably punch him. I quickly followed after him and we turned down the road that led to the Cork & Bottle.

"So did you hear about Isabelle and Eggs today?" Eric asked.

"Unfortunately I heard from Tara. She's upset about it, even though I keep saying he isn't worth it." Poor Tara had been dumped by Eggs earlier in the school year. She was just starting to get over it when she found out he was sleeping with Isabelle. At least that was the rumor. I was not so quick to believe it since Eggs was immature and would make the rumor up himself just to feel cool.

"That sucks, he told me in class, I don't know if it's true though. He only hung out with Isabelle like one time." Eric and everyone in the damn high school knew Isabelle was easy so there'd be no way of confirming it until she spoke up about it.

I was very lucky to be able to talk about this stuff with Eric and not feel awkward at all. Tara had always felt uncomfortable talking about anything involving sex with Eggs. She felt like the second that subject came up Eggs expected to have a discussion about when they were going to have sex, or when she would finally be ready. He really was an ass. Eric and I had talked about it briefly and both quickly agreed we were nowhere near ready for that. Heck we were in the same health class and they showed this documentary about some 16 year old girl who got pregnant, I think it scared the crap out of both of us.

"I think I'm going to get three ice cream sandwiches today." Eric said as we rode down the last hill towards the store.

"What? How are you going to eat all of that?" I could see the small red store up ahead now. I looked over at Eric who was dead serious, but looked like a cartoon character with the way the wind was blowing his hair around.

"I will. You'll see, it's my master plan to finally start growing. I'll just eat a ton." He smiled.

"you realize eating ice cream will just make you fatter right?" I laughed, his reasoning made no sense.

"That's fine too since my arms look like twigs right now." He had a t-shirt on and lifted his hand off one of the handle bars to show me. As if I didn't know what his arms looked like already.

"I think you look fine Eric." I really saw nothing wrong with how he looked.

"You're my girlfriend you have to say that." He reasoned as we pulled our bikes into the small parking lot.

"Not really, did you ever think you wouldn't have a girlfriend if you weren't cute already?" I carefully locked my bike to the railing just outside the store. Although I doubted anyone would steal it out here.

"This is true..." He pondered "I may have underestimated my own dashing good looks" He grinned.

"You really are an idiot." I tried not to laugh at his stupid joke but failed miserably as we walked into the store.

We both picked out what we wanted and went up to the register. The same older woman was always here running the store. She was the nicest lady, like a friendly little Grandma who baked cookies all the time. "Hi kids, what have we got today?" She looked over at Eric. "someone has eyes bigger than his stomach I think."

"I'll finish them. It's ice cream, can't let it go to waste." He pulled some crumpled bills out of his pocket to pay.

"Okay" she chuckled and handed him his change. "You two be sure to invite me to the wedding." She smiled and I'm sure my face turned bright red. Mrs. Sullivan was always making little comments like that to us. I think she just thought we were cute, like puppies, I doubted she took it seriously. Eric on the other hand...

"Oh I'll make sure you're the first to get an invitation." He was not phased in the least by her words. Then he grabbed my hand and we headed outside to sit on the sidewalk and eat our very unhealthy snacks.

_End Flashback_

I woke up the following morning with Eric still on my mind. I wanted this to be easy and for things to just work out with Sam. But life was never easy was it? Usually the guys who showed interest in me, I wasn't interested in. Then the guys that I thought were handsome had absolutely no interest in me. Except for Eric and now Sam. The problem was I never thought Eric would really be an option again. Hell I didn't even know if he was right now.

With a sigh I forced myself into the shower then went about my morning routine. By the time I had breakfast I felt much better. I was completely awake and my dreams seemed like a distant memory. Sam was on his way over and I was looking forward to spending the day with him. I also planned on chatting with him about some things we needed to work on. I was going to have a good, accomplished day.

"Hey Sook!" Sam smiled as he walked in the back door. He had a small bouquet of white daisies. The man was always very good at those little romantic gestures.

"Morning" I gave him a hug and took the flowers to put in a vase. "You didn't have to do this, but thank you."

"I don't do it because I have to." He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"I know, still surprises me that you do stuff like that after all this time." I turned in his arms and gave him a quick kiss. Sam definitely seemed interested in turning it much more than a kiss, but that could wait until after we had our talk today.

"So what do you want to do today? I was thinking we could do something outside since it's so nice out." It was a gorgeous day. It was warm but without the gross humidity.

"Sure, we could go walk on one of the hiking trails?"

We ended up at the town forest which had a two mile loop through the woods. It was just a beginner trail with nothing too interesting on it. But it would keep us out in the sunlight and enjoying the fresh air. Times like these I wished Sam was still horseback riding. It was a perfect day for it. We got out of the car and headed down the trail side by side.

"Did Tara tell you about her cookout yet? She told me to let you know she was having a big summer get together in a couple weeks, in case I saw you first. Which she knew would definitely happen." He smiled. Tara and I tried to make time for each other but it wasn't easy when we both worked full-time and she worked a lot of weekends still.

"Of course not, I'll give her a call tonight though and let her know we'll be there." Sam just nodded. We had been together long enough that I didn't have to nervously ask him if he'd go. We were a couple, so we just went to these types of things together.

"So what was the work emergency?" I asked as we turned down a somewhat steeper slope in the trail.

"Oh, the cook just lost his temper again, made one of the waitresses cry until she was threatening to quit." He rolled his eyes and didn't say much more on the subject.

"Oh..." Lately Sam was less and less talkative about work. I tried to not be offended since it seemed directly linked to all of the damn emergencies they had with this cook lately. He was probably just stressed and didn't want to spend his day off reliving the bullshit at work.

"Did Maggie settle down yesterday?" He asked as we turned and started heading back towards the direction we came.

"Yeah, she settled down pretty quick. I don't think she's going to be much trouble." Some horses were just plain high maintenance. You know, like the Nan Flanagans of the animal world, who constantly needed attention. So far Maggie seemed pretty quiet she just wanted your attention when you were standing two inches away from her.

Sam and I enjoyed the rest of the hike then I he drove us back to my house. Just as we pulled into the driveway his cell started ringing. He rolled his eyes and picked up the phone. "Hello?" He listened to a loud voice on the other end of the phone for awhile. By the looks of it someone did something stupid again at work. "Okay I'll get there as soon as I can, alright, bye"

My shoulders slumped as I sat in the passenger seat. So much for having lunch together and the rest of the day. I also did not want to bring up my serious talk if it was going to be rushed. "Let me guess, you have to go? Work emergency?"

"I'm sorry Sook, I'll make it up to you I promise." Sam looked sincere and like he really did not want to go to work.

"I know it just sucks. I feel like I get less and less time with you." I wanted to say more but I also was not going to open a can of worms when he had to rush off. "Just give me a call when you get home? Maybe we can do dinner or something."

"That actually sounds perfect. How about I cook?" He smiled.

"Alright I'll see you tonight then. Don't work too hard." I gave him a quick kiss and hopped out of the car. Sam waved before heading up the road towards his work. I decided I would still be useful today and went about cleaning my house. I had my music blasting and scrubbed every inch of the place and washed every piece of fabric in my laundry bin. By the time I finished I was tired but in a good mood. I had gotten a lot done.

I decided to throw some chocolate chip cookies in the oven and then took a quick shower before heading to Sam's. I wrapped up the cookies on a plate to head over a little early for dinner. I'm sure Sam would devour the cookies before he started cooking anyway. I got in my car and made the drive to Sam's house. He had not called yet but I figured that he wouldn't be too much longer. Plus I knew where the spare key was.

I pulled into the driveway and noticed Sam's car was already there along with an unfamiliar Jeep. That was odd. I tried to think of who might be here, maybe one of his friends? But why wouldn't he have called to say he was home? I tried to not get suspicious as I walked up to the door. I grabbed the spare key from its hidden spot and opened the door without knocking. Apparently part of me was suspicious enough to not let my presence be known yet. I still had the damn plate of cookies in one hand and had to carefully shut the door behind me.

I headed towards the kitchen and that was when I saw Sam and Daphne. They were half clothed and having sex on the fucking table we were supposed to eat dinner at tonight. Not a sound came out of my mouth but I dropped the plate of cookies. The sounds of the glass plate shattering on the floor broke them out of their lust fueled haze.

"Oh shit!" That was all Sam had to say as he looked up.

"Sookie?" Daphne could at least say my name.

I didn't stick around for anything else. I turned on my heel and ran out the door. I hopped into my car and sped home . Tears were running down my face but I wasn't even sad yet, I was pissed. Sam always seemed like such a nice and genuine guy. I might have thought he was a workaholic but I never would have thought he was cheating. I bet he was using his 'work emergencies' as an excuse to go fuck that bimbo waitress all the time. There probably was no drama with the chef. He should have been a politician because he certainly had me fooled into thinking he was all innocent and nice.

I got back to my house and immediately grabbed the few pictures I had of us and tossed them into the trash. I had never been cheated on before, I had no idea how to handle this. At first I wondered what was wrong with me, why was I not enough? But then I got logical and told myself he was the jackass. If he wasn't happy he should have dumped me instead of cheating. Instead of being a sobbing mess I spent most of the evening being angry. Then I realized I had to go feed Maggie. Crap. I didn't want Eric to see me right now. But I could not let my horse go hungry so I trudged out to my car and drove to Eric's house.

**a/n: so thoughts? reactions? what do you all think of sam? also this was my last banked chapter so the updates might be a bit slower now. But, remember, when I get reviews I tend to write much faster... =) **


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: thanks so much everyone for the reviews last chapter! no more Sam thankfully! Just to clear things up he and Sookie were only dating for a year. A few people seemed to think it was much longer than that. I also chose to use Sam instead of Bill, because I wanted him to be that type of guy that seems so nice he literally has everyone fooled. To me Bill could never pull that off he always seems like a snake. Sam on the other hand could be that guy everyone loves and thinks is so nice, then secretly he's just an a$$. **

**Anyways... due to the awesome amount of reviews I wrote chapter 8 last night!**

**Chapter 8**

**Eric's POV**

I made the hour drive up to Waltham to visit my mother. The place was not right in the heart of Boston like we used to be, but the city was only a short drive from my mother's house now. Most of the drive I spent thinking about the same blonde who had been on my mind for weeks. I realized that it was a damn good thing Sam came in when he did. I made a rash decision when I tried to kiss her in the barn. Sam was right outside, not my smartest moment. But at least I was saved by the bell, well Sam… that only reminded me that Sookie and I used to watch those stupid Saved by the Bell reruns on TBS. I always thought Kelly was pretty damn hot while Sookie could never decide if she liked Zach or Slater more. The show was absolutely ridiculous but we both wasted plenty of time watching it.

Was she really going to marry Sam? It would kill me to go to their wedding and pretend to be a happy friend of Sookie's. Maybe I just wouldn't go. Then I realized I was getting way ahead of myself here. Sam had not even popped the question yet and maybe he never would. Of course the man would be an absolute fool not to. I knew I was a fool to let her go all those years ago. Lately I kept wondering if we tried to make it work, would I be the one with her right now? Being alone in my truck was not proving to be useful. I just kept going over the same crap in my mind. I knew I wanted her yet I felt unsure of when and how to make my feelings known. I didn't want to come off as a complete jackass who had no respect for her current relationship, since apparently she was pretty serious about it.

I turned up the radio and decided to shut my brain off for the rest of the ride. I was going to kill myself over thinking this. When I got to my mother's she came running out the door the second my truck pulled into the tiny driveway the house had. There was only room for one vehicle but luckily their car was in the small garage.

"Eric!" My mother was hugging me like she had not seen me in years instead of weeks.

"Hi Mom" I chuckled and leaned down to hug her back. Even my mother seemed small now. Back in high school I was the same height as her for awhile.

"Come in, come in! " She grabbed my arm and dragged me into the house. I don't know why she was in a rush since I was spending the entire day here.

"Hey Henry, how's it going?" I stepped into the living room and he was watching baseball on their small television set. My mother still did not grasp the amazingness of a huge ass television.

"Same as always, I can't complain." He smiled and asked if I wanted anything to drink.

"No I'm fine. I'm sure my crazy mother has cooked a feast anyways." I wandered into the kitchen since I had no interest in baseball. I used to love the Red Sox but now I associated them with my Dad and that wasn't a good thing.

In the kitchen I found my mother had made spaghetti, meatballs, and had enough bread for ten people. "Geez Mom, you think you're feeding an army?"

"Well I'm feeding you, it's pretty much the same thing." She smiled and handed me the bottle of coke she knew I was heading to the fridge for. You got to love mothers, they always remember what you like to eat.

"Very true. So how is everything?" I talked to her on the phone at least once a week but it was better to catch up in person.

"Good, Henry has some vacation days to use at work so we might start planning that cruise we've been saving for." She smiled.

"That's great, just make sure Henry doesn't wear his speedo this time." I stood up and started getting everything to set the table. I laughed when I heard Henry yelling at me from the other room. He owned no speedo, but I liked to tease him.

"You are lucky he knows you're still my number one man. Otherwise he might try to beat you up for those comments." I handed my mother the plates so she could fill each one with food. I was never the type of guy to sit on my ass while my mom was in the kitchen. The second half of my childhood it was just the two of us and even though she never asked I knew she needed an extra hand sometimes. To this day I had no idea how she remained sane while working two jobs for so long and raising me. She says I made it easy but I knew she was just being modest.

"Anything new with you Eric?" She looked over at me and I decided to just tell her. It wasn't a secret after all.

"Nothing much…. Sookie is back in town though." I waited for the shriek of happiness, yep there it was.

"Oh! That's great! How is she doing? Have you seen her?" Someone was full of questions. Mom always loved Sookie to death and could never stop saying what a nice young lady she was.

"Yeah I've seen her. We're friends again, she actually just started keeping her horse in the old barn." I explained and my mother was practically glowing. I knew where this was headed.

"Really? So you must see her quite often. Friends again? What kind of friends?" Could her hints be anymore obvious?

"The normal kind mother. She's not my girlfriend since I know that's what you're getting at." I set the plates down on the table and filled the other two glasses with water. I sat down to eat while my mother remained standing since she was all excited over this new revelation. Henry came in and just sat down to eat, unaware of the situation.

"But is she going to be? You two were always so good together." My mother actually never agreed with our break up. She did not want us getting married but she thought we should have at least tried to the long distance thing.

"Probably not since she has a serious boyfriend." I rolled my eyes and took a bite of pasta meanwhile my mother finally sat down.

"So you want her back?" I swear she was going to burst with excitement. I realized now that my wording made my feelings way too clear. Oh well… it wasn't like I hid things from her anyway.

"It doesn't matter if I want her Mom, she's already got someone else." Henry was just quietly eating his lunch and minding his business.

"Is this that girl from forever ago? The love of your life one?" So much for Henry minding his business.

"I've never said that." I glared at my mother who just shrugged and tried to be innocent.

"Your mother told me about her, I asked who the girl was in all your high school photos. She's quite the looker. " He nodded his approval then went back to eating. Henry was good about piping in on a conversation but somehow never actually shoving his own opinion in your face.

"She still is, but like I said, she's taken." I gave my mother a meaningful look and she finally started eating her food. I understood she was excited and wanted me to be happy, but right now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It wasn't as simple as asking her on a date.

I ended up staying at my mother's and eating dinner there as well. I had a good time with her as usual and had to give her about a hundred hugs before she let me walk out the door. On my way home I stopped for gas then decided to check out the RedBox while I was there. I picked a movie to watch for the night then headed home. When I pulled into the driveway I noticed Sookie's car. I went inside first and dropped the movie and my keys on the counter before heading out back to say hello. The barn light was on and I figured she was feeding the horse or something. When I got to the slightly ajar door I could hear sniffling. That definitely was not the horse. I stepped closer and listened and finally realized it was Sookie crying.

"Sookie?" I pushed the door aside and walked in slowly. She was sitting on the barn floor across from Maggie's stall with tears running down her face. The scene was all too familiar except the last time I saw this there was no bay horse looking over the stall door at her, and Jupiter had just died.

She quickly wiped away the tears but before she could get up I sat down next to her. "What's wrong?" I looked down into her watery brown eyes and she couldn't seem to get the words out. Eventually I just put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Sookie collapsed into my side and just started crying again. I had no idea what happened but I just there with her on the barn floor and let her cry. It could be something with Sam, or maybe an accident in her family, anything…. Whatever it was I'd be there for her. Meanwhile Maggie was just silently watching us.

I don't know how long we sat out there in silence but it was a long time. Eventually she stopped crying but she did not move. My hand was moving over her back in a soothing way and every once in awhile she would hiccup from all the crying.

"I'm sorry" She finally croaked in that weird voice you get from balling your eyes out.

"Don't be. Are you okay?" I hoped nothing was wrong with her. I knew she was not bleeding to death but for all I knew she went to the doctor and got some sort of bad news today.

"Physically yes…. Emotionally not so much." She was quiet again for a bit then sat up some and looked at my eyes. "I caught Sam cheating on me."

"What? With who? When?" I was going to beat the shit out of that little prick. He even fooled me into thinking he was a nice guy. Granted I hated him simply because he was with Sookie but he seemed nice enough when he was around.

"Today, I went over early for dinner and he was there with one of his waitresses." She explained and wiped her eyes again.

"What a dick! How could he do that to you? I'm going to-"

"Eric! It's fine. Well it's not fine, but I don't want you doing anything. Sam's an ass and I won't be seeing him anymore. That will be the end of it." Sookie stood up suddenly and started gathering her things. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't even be complaining to you and crying all over you." She started to walk away but I blocked her path.

"Why not?" If I was her friend then she was allowed to break down in front of me.

"Because…. I just shouldn't. I'll call Tara later if I need to. I'm okay." She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and got ready to go again.

"Sookie I don't mind. I'm your friend, doesn't that mean I'm allowed to be there for you? You know I'm not letting you drive home right now. So please just come inside?" I was stubborn and she knew that.

She seemed to be debating for a few seconds before she caved. "For a little while…. Thanks Eric."

I put my arm around her and led the way back to the house. Sam was out of the picture but I could honestly say I was not jumping up and down over it. He hurt Sookie and that was not what I wanted.

**Sookie's POV**

I felt bad being a sobbing mess all over Eric. He might be my friend but we were just getting reacquainted, I shouldn't be dumping my problems onto him. But being the good guy he always was Eric refused to let me push him away and leave. So I ended up on his couch while he was putting a DVD on. I was done crying now and I doubted I would break down like that again. It wasn't that I was completely head over heels for Sam and thought he was my soul mate. No I had already been questioning our relationship for the past month or so…. But it still hurt like hell when someone betrayed you like that. So I guess I was not crying about losing Sam, I was crying because I felt so fucking hurt by the act of him cheating on me.

"I rented this at RedBox on my way home, no idea if it will be any good." Eric shrugged and sat down next to me.

It was a film neither of us had ever heard of and I supposed it fell into the sci-fi genre. But I wasn't paying too much attention to the movie. Apparently Eric wasn't either since he started talking in the middle of it.

"You doing okay over there?" He peered over at me from his side of the couch.

"I guess so. I'm not even that upset about losing Sam… I just can't believe he did that to me." I frowned and looked back towards the movie. Then I felt Eric's huge hand closing around mine. He had moved closer to me and his blue eyes were focused on my face.

"Don't ever think you did something wrong to make him cheat on you. He's just a jackass who has no idea what he just lost." There was a conviction in his expression that made me believe every word he said.

"I actually thought for a second that maybe I wasn't enough, but then I said screw that, he's the dickwad." Sam was a total dickwad.

"I don't know how any guy could think that you're not enough." Eric wasn't moving any closer to me but the way he was looking at me was a bit much to handle. He had this expression that made me think he definitely though I was enough. For him.

"Thanks… " I gave him a small smile but couldn't offer much else. Eric leaned back again and we both resumed watching the crappy movie. I had no idea if I just read that situation right or if I was all messed up on my crazy emotions. Either way I needed some recovery time from Sam before moving on to anyone else. One thing was definite, I was happy Eric made me stay. Hearing Sam was a jackass and that I had done nothing wrong from someone else's mouth was reassuring and made me confident in my original feelings.

**a/n: there we go, so now we'll be getting much more E/S time since Sam is gone. YAY!**


	9. Chapter 9

**a/n: nothing fun to say here, although I'm tired as hell from work. Who knew building business requirements could be so annoying and tiring... anyway I'll end my rant and thanks for reviewing you guys! =)**

**CHAPTER 9**

**Eric's POV**

I went to bed that night wishing I could go beat the shit out of Sam Merlotte. Seriously was the man insane? He had the most perfect, beautiful woman in his grasp and he fucking cheated on her. I never made the drive to his town though. I promised Sookie I would not do that and unlike Sam I was honest with her. But if I ever happen to run into him by accident you can bet I'll be punching him in the face.

I peeled off my clothes and collapsed in bed in my boxer briefs. I rarely put on pajamas unless it was the dead of winter and freezing as hell. I was just about to fall asleep when my phone lit up. I reached over to my nightstand and noticed it was Sookie.

**S – Thanks for everything tonight, I really appreciate it.**

**E – You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome.**

**S – Can you just let me thank you for once? You always were stubborn!**

**E – I remember someone else being just as bad….. =P**

**S – I'm not admitting to anything!**

**E – Typical**

**S – Whatever! I'm going to bed! **

**E – Night Smalls**

I grinned and put my phone down. I was still going to make my move but I wasn't going to push it either. I definitely did not want her to still be mixed up over Sam when I decided to do something. For now I'd be her friend and just be there for her. That would be enough just like it was all those years ago until I worked up the courage to kiss her in her tv room while watching that Green Day concert. A few minutes later I was passed out.

_Flashback_

I said goodbye to my mother and walked out to my new car. Well the car was actually old as hell but it was new to me. I was 17 and finally saved up enough to buy my own car. In the past I had been stuck borrowing my mother's car but months upon months of bagging groceries paid off. I was now the proud owner of the ugliest Chevy Cavalier anyone had ever seen. It was this nasty green color that almost looked like vomit and had some patches of rust on it. My girlfriend Sookie had named him Oscar, as in Oscar the Grouch who lived in a trash can. It suited the vehicle well.

I got in and thankfully even though he looked like hell, Oscar's engine purred to life. I drove straight to Sookie's house and probably a little too fast. I couldn't help it I was excited. The second I parked in front of the house Sookie came running down the steps. Even in the t-shirt she was wearing I was able to appreciate the view as her boobs bounced with each step. Yeah, I was 17, of course that's where my mind was. Sookie was shrieking with excitement and just jumped on me. I looked a bit thin but I was much taller than her now and easily caught her.

She had her arms locked around my neck and her legs around my waist. I wondered where her parents were, definitely not home if she was doing this right now. "Are you ready?" She asked with a smile that could light up a room. See, I might be a 17 year old boy, but I also had much deeper thoughts and feelings when it came to Sookie Stackhouse. We started dating when we were 15 so that gave us plenty of time to just hold hands and for the most part be best friends. I wasn't some horny teenager looking to get in her pants. I was completely in love with this girl and she knew it.

"I am, are you? I don't know if you can handle it. You already look like you might die of excitement." I chuckled and let her slide to the ground.

"I've been waiting for this forever! I'm even dressed for the occasion!" She pointed to her black t-shirt.

"I'm pretty sure that's my shirt." It was actually my black Green Day t-shirt from a couple years ago that was now too small. "But I like it better on you." I grinned and pushed her up against the car.

"Eric, it's a ratty old t-shirt, really?" She said as I started kissing her neck. I don't think she realized that she could wear anything that belonged to me and it'd be hot. Since I had not seen her brother either I decided to take advantage of the alone time. I had her against the front of the car now and her hands were raking through my hair as I moved up her neck. Then I grabbed her thighs and lifted her up so she was sitting on the hood of the car. Sookie squealed in surprise for a second before breaking into a fit of giggles. I smiled but still was sure to pull her legs around my waist. I loved the fact that either one of us could start laughing and it didn't throw us off for a second. We didn't need to be hot and passionate like in some movie every god damn second. Sookie and I never took ourselves too seriously.

"What do you think you're doing? This isn't getting us to the concert faster." She raised an eyebrow at me and I just silenced her with a kiss. I knew she wasn't really arguing with me over this, just being playfully stubborn as usual. My lips moved against hers and the second they parted I slid my tongue into her mouth. Sookie's fingers were back in my hair and pulling me closer. My body was pressed against hers yet I still wanted to be closer. I leaned into her until she was literally laying on the hood of the car.

My hands moved up her sides and over those amazing breasts. They were the only ones I'd ever seen but I was confident they were the best. My hands finally came to rest on either side of her head. Sookie started to suck on my bottom lip and I moved my hips in response. One of my hands came to rest on her hip as I started to grind against her. I heard her breathy sigh as I moved back to her neck again. We hadn't had sex yet but god damn was I looking forward to it.

"Eric…." Sookie was a bit out of breath.

"I know" I groaned and stopped moving against her. We both needed to put the brakes on before we got carried away. We both wanted the same thing, but unlike everyone else our age we wanted to be smart about it. I of course had bought condoms and Sookie had just started the pill but it would be another month until it was working fully. Plus there was the fact that we were both well aware that sex could result In pregnancy even if you take all the precautions. Most teenagers seemed to think it would never happen to them and I thought that was a very idiotic way to look at things.

"You're getting more and more difficult to resist Northman" She smiled as I helped her off the car.

"I try" I smirked as we both hopped into the car. We definitely would be having sex sooner rather than later, but I was a patient guy so next month I wouldn't be instantly all over her the second we knew the pill was working. I'd just go with the flow and we could see when it felt right.

"Now turn that Green Day up! We have to prep for the awesomeness that will be this concert." She leaned over and turned up the volume so American Idiot was blasting through the speakers. Sookie and I were heading to her first Green Day concert. It was going to be one hell of a night.

_End Flashback_

When I woke up and headed to work the next morning Clancy was the only one in the office. I didn't even have to think about asking him for advice since he piped up right away.

"So how's that little lady?" He hobbled over to the old coffee machine to pour himself another cup.

"Not great, she's going through a tough breakup." I didn't give him all the dirty details since it was Sookie's business.

"Oh, so no more complications then?" He raised his eyebrows over those old half moon glasses of his.

"Sort of, but now she's hurting and that's never what I wanted." I shook my head and went to my pour myself a cup of coffee.

"Boy you must really care about her." Clancy sat down at the closest desk and looked me up and down with thought. "If either of my boys found out some lady they was chasing, was single, they'd just be happy. But that's because they think about themselves, not how the woman is feeling." He sighed and ran his fingers through his thin gray hair. "I don't know why they're so selfish. I didn't raise them up to be that way."

I felt bad for Clancy. His two sons were good workers but they seemed to lack any type of manners when it came to women. For a second I wondered why the universe didn't match my father up with Clancy's sons. That would have been a perfect fit.

"I do care about her. A lot." With that I headed upstairs to my office. I could hear his two boys pulling into the parking lot so that meant the conversation was over.

Around lunch time I got a text from my buddy Quinn asking me to get beers that night. Normally I was always up for hanging out with him. Quinn was a decent guy and shared similar values to me. He did not go whore himself around simply because he could. We met back in college and have been friends ever since. I finally said no but offered to make plans with him the following night. I knew Sookie would be over after work to take care of Maggie and I wanted to be there if she needed anything.

At the end of the day I got a text from Sookie saying she would be over to see Maggie. She didn't really need to tell me that and I wondered if she just needed someone to talk to. So I sent a quick text back. I never heard from her though and left work to go home. When I pulled into the driveway her car was there so I headed to the backyard. Luckily I did not have to get very dressed up for work. I wore jeans and a button down, with work boots since I technically worked at a construction company. No use in buying nice dress shoes to go ruin them when I had to walk into the work yard to talk to an employee. But at least my work boots were nice black leather and always looked clean. So all in all I was not worried about getting my work clothes dirty in the barn.

Instead of seeing Sookie in the barn she was riding Maggie in the paddock. I walked over and leaned against the fence. I always enjoyed watching her ride. She just seemed completely content and amazingly calm since she was trusting some huge ass animal with her life. I could never do it.

"Hey!" She smiled and slowed the horse down to a walk. It was nice to see she wasn't stopping her life to cry over Sam.

"Good evening, way to not respond to my text." It was nothing important but I liked teasing her.

"I didn't even get it, I sent you one then came right over to tack up the horse." She explained then pointed to the fence. I noticed her phone was resting on the top of it next to my arm. I pushed the little button so the screen would light up to check the time then burst out laughing.

"What?" Sookie was looking down at me confused. Then she seemed to realize what I was laughing about and I noticed her cheeks turning pink.

"Really? I can't believe you put my old screenname as my name in your phone." When I had clicked the button a pop-up window was on the screen saying she had a text from ENorthsox51. Did I mention I always thought it was cute how much she blushed?

"Guess I was feeling nostalgic when I entered it. And a bit drunk." She shrugged and tried to brush it off.

"So how's the first ride?" I wasn't going to pester her about it. I thought it was a good thing she remembered such a small detail the second she saw me again at the reunion.

"Good, she's just a bit out shape. Her old owners weren't riding her too much over the past couple months. But that's an easy fix." She seemed to be done riding and was just walking Maggie around to cool her down.

We chatted about our days for a few minutes and I learned Sookie had a lot of responsibility at work. They just put her as the lead on a new website launch that needed to be marketed properly. It was nice to learn more about where her life was right now.

"Are you busy tomorrow night?" I finally asked. I made plans with Quinn and figured she could join us. The last few times he had brought Arlene anyway. She was some new woman he was dating and it seemed to be going well. Arlene was a bit loud but it had yet to bother me since it suited the bar atmosphere perfectly. Maybe if she came over for a cookout she would annoy me.

"Just coming to take care of Maggie, why?" She hopped down from the horse and started running her stirrups up.

"You should come out to the bar with me and my buddy Quinn. We just go to Trinity Pub once a week and hang out." Trinity was a decent bar just outside of town. It was a relaxed atmosphere but they still played good music and had great food if you wanted to eat.

"Isn't it guys night or something?" She didn't seem too sure of the idea.

"Nah, lately he's been bringing this woman he's been dating for awhile. So you won't be a third wheel if that's what you're worried about." Sookie was never a big party animal and I doubted that changed in college. I never was either but I was not against having a good time. I figured she probably had not been out to a bar with other guys in awhile.

"Um, alright, what time?" She led the horse back to the barn and I followed along. While Sookie untacked I filled her in on the time and told her I could pick her up. It wasn't a date but I figured it was a step in the right direction.

**a/n: Hope you all enjoyed, please review! Let me know your thoughts on the chapter? the flashback? You think the bar is a date? Will we hear from Sam ever again? **


	10. Chapter 10

**a/n: I know! I'm terrible and have not posted in forever for you guys! Life has just gotten very hectic. First my grandfather got sick, but he's doing better now, and then it's just been the regular craziness of the holiday season. So I can't promise any regular posting until after New Year's I'd say. Anywho here is another chapter, finally, hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Also I didn't reread for spelling errors. So my apologies if this chapter is painfully full of typos!**

**CHAPTER 10**

**Eric's POV**

I went for the more casual look tonight. I had on a black v-neck tee with blue jeans. When I got to the screen door Sookie yelled for me to come inside. I immediately went and stood under the fan in her small living room. I hated summer sometimes. Then Sookie came out of the bathroom and I changed my mind. Summer meant Sookie in a little red top with white shorts that barely covered her ass. Someone was definitely dressing like a single woman. My eyes were glued to her every movement and I didn't care if she knew it.

"Eric!" Sookie was standing at my feet in front of the couch. "I've said your name three times."

"Oh….sorry?" I stood up slowly so I was standing right in front of her. "I was busy appreciating the view." I grinned then led the way to the door. She seemed a bit stunned and I bet you fifty bucks she was blushing. I knew she still needed time to get over what Sam did but flirting was harmless right?

We ended up taking Sookie's car to meet Quinn at the bar. She voted against the hassle of climbing into my truck tonight. I didn't really understand why since she wasn't wearing a dress or insanely high heels. But whatever it didn't really matter. I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot fairly close to the entrance. It wasn't too busy yet but there was a steady amount of people entering the parking lot. The place would be packed soon enough.

We got to the door and since it wasn't a weekend they were not charging cover. Sookie and I headed inside. Quinn spotted us from across the bar and waved me over. I could see Arlene sipping on some fruity drink next to him. Sookie was at my side so I put my hand on the small of her back and led her towards Quinn. Now I just needed her to be mine again so I would never have to take my hands off of her.

"Eric! What's up?" Quinn yelled over the music and we gave each other one of those half hugs men always do. Quinn was shorter than me but stocky and muscular. He started to lose his hair in college so now he just shaved his head. Sometimes I called him but overall the look actually suited him. It would be weird to him with spiky hair now.

"Is this Sookie?" He held his hand out to her and gave me one of those looks that says 'dude she's hot'. I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Nice to meet you, Quinn right?" As usual Sookie was a bit shy at first and just gave him a small smile after shaking his hand.

"Yep and this is my girl Arlene" Arlene smiled and waved. "I'm an old college friend of Eric's. But from what I hear you've known him longer than me." Quinn had this evil look in his eye. I was sure he was digging for embarrassing stories about me. Bastard.

Sookie gave him a real smile then. "I've known Eric a long time. We met on the school bus."

"Damn, that is a long time. You got pictures of this guy when he was a kid? He claims he was tiny but I don't believe it for a second." Quinn had never believed me when I told him that. He thought I was born 6'4" or something.

I was standing right behind Sookie now, leaning against the bar with one arm. We probably looked like a couple to everyone else in the place. That was fine by me. Then Sookie was digging into her purse. My jaw dropped when she produced a very worn out photo. It was creased from being folded before and she flattened it out before handing it to Quinn.

"That's Eric at 15." She grinned. It was the damn photo from Bill Compton's Halloween party all those years ago. I was in my Clark Kent costume and Sookie was a cowgirl. God I looked goofy as hell with my floppy hair.

"Holy shit! Haha! Arlene check this kid out! He wasn't lying!" Quinn was laughing his ass off and busy showing off the photo.

"You kept that all this time?" I wondered what else she kept from our past, and why, since she had a boyfriend a few days ago. Maybe I wasn't the only one thinking about us after all this time.

She snatched the picture back from Quinn and put it safely into her purse. "Of course I did. Even if we weren't together, I never wanted to forget anything about us, Eric."

I wanted to kiss her so badly right then.

"And I don't think you looked scrawny, you were cute." She smiled a little at me then looked down at the drink she had ordered. Maybe I could kiss her right now? She certainly seemed to be over Sam.

Then her phone started ringing. Sookie checked and sighed in frustration. "It's Sam" She ignored it for awhile but it kept ringing. Finally she caved and told us she'd be right back. I reluctantly stayed where I was and joined in on Quinn and Arlene's conversation.

**Sookie's POV**

I was actually having a good time flirting with Eric until Sam called. I was never an expert at flirting but with Eric it never felt like I had to be. We just were what we were and that was it. I never had that comfort level with Sam. I remember feeling nervous around him for the first few weeks we were dating and it took me awhile to come out of my shell. And I still wasn't sure I ever completely felt at ease with him. Now that I could directly compare it to how I felt with Eric, I was realizing a lot of things had been lacking.

"What do you want?" I shut the bathroom stall door in hopes of getting some privacy.

"Sook, you gotta hear me out." He didn't even sound all that desperate on the other end of the line.

"Sam you cheated on me, there's nothing to explain. I'm done." I was not going to give him a second chance for a mistake like that. He chose this. I would not be one of those stupid girls who gave the guy another chance and got screwed over.

"I'm not trying to convince you to come back. I just want you to know I didn't mean for this to happen. And once it did I never meant for you to find out in that way." He said calmly.

I was reeling from that. I did not even want Sam back but it stung to hear he wasn't even trying to get me back. He cared that little about me? I told myself it was stupid to care about that since I wasn't in love with him anyway.

"Fine but that's what happened. You're a jackass. Don't call me again." I spat angrily then hung up the phone. I was not going to make him feel better by saying something nicer and let him run off with Daphne guilt free like he wanted to.

I thought I regained my composure but the second I walked out of the bathroom Eric came over. "What's wrong? What did he say to you?"

"It doesn't matter, I just want to go home." I wanted to have a self-pity night and eat ice cream and watch chick flicks.

"Sookie wait, I'll take you home if you want, but don't let Sam ruin your night. He's the prick, he should be the one sitting home alone." Eric's perfect blue eyes were full of concern and that honesty he always seemed to radiate. Why didn't I just stay with him back in high school? He never would have hurt me like this.

"But I want to watch chick flicks… and eat ice cream…." I complained but started to smile a little. He knew he had me when he grabbed my hand and started pulling me to the small dance floor.

"I'll watch one with you later! Promise!" He yelled over the music then pulled me against his body.

Eric was definitely a good dancer for being such a tall guy. He had always been a good dancer when we were kids because he wasn't worried about looking stupid in front of other people. I'm telling you the people who were worried about looking good, were the ones who looked the worst on the dance floor. They were usually stiff and could never find the beat of the song. Eric helped me to quickly forget about Sam. He pulled me back against his body and I could definitely tell that he had packed on a lot more muscle since high school. We were lost in our own little world while the DJ played song after song. All of them were familiar dance beats that had Eric and I singing like idiots along with the music. Thankfully it was loud enough I doubted anyone could hear us.

The song changed again and I felt Eric's grip on my hips suddenly tighten. I don't know what came over him but he wasn't goofing around anymore. His body was glued to mine and I could feel him grinding his hips against me suggestively. Not that I really minded… His nose brushed against the skin just below my ear and a shiver ran down my spine. Good lord, I was going to have a hard time keeping my hands to myself. He was making it very difficult. I tried to remind myself that no matter how interested I was in Eric I should not rush into anything. Eric spun me around so I was facing him and my arms automatically went around his neck. I didn't have to look up at him since he lowered his head, so his forehead was resting against mine. I had to not move those couple inches in order to kiss him but it was getting too tempting.

"Hey! You two!" Quinn yelled at us over the music and woke me up a bit from the haze Eric worked me into.

"We're gonna take off for the night, Arlene has work in the morning." Quinn and Arlene left hand in hand. Eric yelled bye to them over the music.

"You want to get out of here?" Eric asked and I nodded. That was probably a smart idea since if we kept dancing I'd just jump him. Plus I had work tomorrow and so did he.

When we exited the bar Eric has his arm around my shoulders the entire time. Part of me wanted to step away but then there was the other piece of me thinking this felt close to perfect. So I didn't say anything as we crossed the parking lot, only parting when we got to the car. Eric volunteered to drive again and soon enough we were back at my house.

"So what chick flick are you going to watch?" He smirked as he shut off the engine.

"I don't know yet… maybe the Notebook or Titanic, or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days… that one won't make me cry." I always loved that movie. Matthew McConaughey was gorgeous and the entire story was pretty light hearted and fun. It would definitely keep me in my good mood.

"I think that's the only one I ever sat through with you and wasn't completely bored. And in Titanic she definitely lets the guy die, I mean, how is that true love?" Eric questioned as we walked towards my door.

"Are we still going to have this argument after ten years?" I rolled my eyes. Eric always insisted Rose could have made some room on that door or whatever it was she was floating on.

"Yes, because she said she would never let go, then proceeded to break her promise. And also pry his cold hand off of her and let him sink into the ocean so she could be saved." Eric looked thoroughly disgusted with Rose as usual.

"Wow, I can't believe you still get so upset over that." I laughed and unlocked the door. "You can come in for a bit if you want, I still won't head to bed for a couple hours." I made sure it didn't sound like I was inviting him in for sex. Then again Eric was never a typical guy. I highly doubted he was assuming I'd invite him in at the end of the night just so he could get in my pants.

"Sure, got any of that ice cream?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I just pointed to the fridge. Eric dug around the freezer and found the coffee ice cream.

"How about you make two bowls of ice cream and I'll put on the movie?" I was still watching my chick flick even though he was here.

"As long as it's not Titanic!" He yelled from the kitchen and I popped the DVD into the player. Then I ran off to my room real quick and changed into some comfy clothes. I did not want to watch the movie in tiny shorts and my low cut red top. Instead I put on my favorite sleep shirt and flannel pajama pants. Now this was comfort. When I got back to the living room Eric was already on the couch inhaling his ice cream.

"You're such a pig." I plopped down next to him and hit play for the movie then dug into my own bowl.

"I know" His voice was muffled since he was replying with a mouth full of food. He was such a dork, but in a good way.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back to watch the movie. We were a good half hour into the movie and done with our ice cream before Eric said anything.

"So are you going to tell me what Sam said to you?" He looked over at me and in the darkness I couldn't see the stubble on his face. He looked younger and much like the Eric I remembered. But as each day went by I realized more and more that he was exactly the same person I left behind ten years ago. Neither of us had changed much in that time.

"Just the normal break up stuff. People always feel like they have to call and get some kind of closure…" I muttered and stared at my perfectly polished toe nails. I painted them red to match my shirt this evening.

"So you're definitely done with him?" That was a loaded question. It felt like he was asking if I was done with Sam so he could swoop in.

"Of course, I'm not going to give a cheater a second chance. Not like he wants one anyway…" That caught Eric's attention.

"What do you mean?" His expression said it all, he wasn't giving up on this.

"It means Sam called to apologize for how I found out about Daphne, not because he wanted me back." I gathered up the empty bowls and took them to the kitchen. I could hear Eric following me. "It doesn't matter, I never wanted him back."

I dumped the bowls into the sink and then I felt Eric's strong arms wrap around me. I thought I was fine but I turned around and sank into his chest. I managed to fight off my tears but I still needed a few seconds to regain my composure. It was nice to be in Eric's arms again. It was nice to know someone cared about me. I still felt stupid for even caring about Sam not wanting me, but you can't control how you feel unfortunately.

"He didn't deserve you Sookie." Eric whispered and I hugged him a little tighter. I didn't want to let go of him but we couldn't spend the night standing in the kitchen. So eventually I pulled back and we headed back to the couch. We missed some of the movie but I had it memorized anyway. When we sank back into the couch Eric's arm was around me and I felt much better being able to curl up against him. When I was with him it was easy to forget the pain Sam had caused me.

**a/n: Thanks for reading, I'll try my best to get you guys another chapter in a decent amount of time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**a/n: I hope everyone's holiday shopping is going well. I really miss being a kid and having the holidays be zero stress and 100% fun and full of vacation time! Another chapter, and thankfully I got this one done much quicker than the last! I'm very tired from way too much drinking for my friend's birthday so I'm going to post this without rereading for errors. I think you guys would rather me post now, than wait two days for me to spell check right? **

**CHAPTER 11**

**Sookie's POV**

_Flashback_

"Eric?" I was beyond creeped out. We had snuck into the old barn behind his house out of curiosity and now I couldn't find him. I was pretty sure he was hiding just to be a jerk. But then in the back of my poor 16 year old mind I was wondering if there was the ghost of a lunatic farmer holding him hostage in one of the musty stalls. Yes I had an imagination and ready far too many paranormal books.

"I'm going to kick your ass for this…" I had a chance too since he was skinny as a string bean. My feet moved slowly over the cracked cement floor that had layers of dust and some rusty old tools laying on it. The barn was completely silent and I kept straining my ears in hopes of hearing some kind of movement. I hated surprises like this, when I knew someone was going to jump out at me. I even tried to breathe quiet but somehow the more I tried the louder I sounded.

"Grrrr!" Eric came jumping down from a god damn rafter above me with some crazy war cry. That was the last thing I was expecting and I screamed. He landed on his feet right in front of me and I was still in shock and freaking out, so I punched him right in the stomach. Woops.

Eric's war cry fizzled out into a groan and he bent over holding his stomach. I definitely hit him as hard as I could. But I was scared as hell and simply reacting! "Sorry?"

"Christ…" Eric caught his breath. "How do you hit so hard if you're a girl?" He was still holding his stomach.

"Never underestimate a woman defending herself. Well, thinking she's defending herself." I tried not to laugh but he did this to himself on some level.

"But you're a girl, not a woman." He smirked and I shoved him hard. But he grabbed my arms before I could back away and pulled me close.

"I think I'm more woman than you are man. You don't even have a beard." I grinned.

"That sounds like a challenge to me" His hands slid into the back pockets of my jeans. I knew exactly what he had in mind to prove how manly he was.

"Eric we're still in your creepy ass barn" I said quietly and looked around quickly to make sure there were no rats.

"I'll distract you" Then his lips were on mine and I'll admit I was easily distracted with Eric. He could do just about anything and I'd lose focus on other things. When he first moved to town I remember spending entire classes daydreaming about him and wishing he would like me in the same way. I had plenty of chats with my best friend Tara about what signs might mean he was interested.

Lucky me, he definitely was. I was quite sure his tongue in my mouth right now proved that. My fingers went straight to his hair as usual. He had the best hair. It was blonde, soft, and just long enough to really dig your fingers into. We were just getting to the good stuff when I felt movement at my feet. I looked down to see a rat scamper right my heels. I shrieked and went running out of the barn. Eric didn't scream but he was right behind me and slammed the barn door shut the second we were outside.

"Lets not make out in the barn anymore?"

"Agreed" Eric nodded and we both took a few steps away just to be safe.

We ended up sitting at the edge of the pool in his backyard. It had a small deck around one half of the oval so we were able to slip our shoes off and let our feet dip into the water. My hand was on his between us, tracing invisible patterns over his skin.

"Do you ever think you'll go back to the city?" I asked randomly.

"Probably not. I've only been here a little over a year but I'm so used to it now. I like the quiet and having more space. In the city everyone is on top of each other." That made me smile. I never wanted to live in the city either. "Why? You don't want to move there once you're out of school do you?"

"Hell no, just visiting with you the last time had me stressed out all day. It's so weird that you have to pay for parking everywhere and then walk to places even when it's pouring out because it's faster than driving." I was so not a city person.

"Yeah on nice days it's convenient. But when it's snowing or rainy it sucks. Have you thought about after high school at all?" Eric seemed curious but not like he was trying to plan our future either. We were both only sophomores so there was plenty of time for that.

"A little. I definitely want to go to college. Maybe for zoology or something with the environment. What about you?" I knew Eric's interests and hobbies but thinking about a career was different.

"I have no idea. I'll go to college somewhere but I have no idea what I want to be. It's kind of crazy to think in the next two years we have to decide what we want the rest of our future to be like." He leaned back on the deck and shut his eyes. I just stared at him for a bit. I'm telling you he was perfect. The sun was beating down on us and Eric already had a tan from being outside in the spring. His hair even looked a shade lighter. Other girls at school wanted guys like my brother Jason who were jocks and already looked like they were 20 years old. I didn't care about any of that though. I was completely okay with being in love with the boy next to me. I hadn't told him yet, but I definitely knew that I had fallen for him.

I leaned back on the deck next to him and he laced our fingers together between us.

"I hope you'll be in that future somehow."

Eric never opened his eyes but he smiled slightly. "Oh, I'll make sure of it."

_End Flashback_

It had been two weeks since I went to the bar with Eric and Quinn. It had been the best two weeks I had in a long time. At first I thought about Sam when I was alone but now he barely crossed my mind. I saw Eric almost everyday and since I went to feed Maggie at night, I also ate dinner at his house quite a few times. The more time we spent together made me sure that I definitely wanted more with him. However I had always been the shy one out of the two of us so making the first move was not my strong suit. I'd thought about it a couple times the last few days but then chickened out.

We were having so much fun together that I didn't want to ruin it. What if he wasn't interested? I thought he was but that was something you could never be sure about. I told myself I'd know the right moment when I was living it. I'm pretty sure Pam thought we were together though. I saw her out getting her mail one afternoon and she gave me an odd expression. It was one of those weird smiles people give you when they think they're in on your secret.

For now there really was no secret. Eric and I had quickly become best friends again. We would eat dinner together, watch movies, and I'd try to convince him to ride Maggie. That had yet to happen. We did do some research on dog adoption though. Eric finally decided he was going to go for it. Our internet search was useless since he could not decide on a breed or type of dog at all. He just wanted it to be fairly young and not tiny like a Yorkie.

That's why today he was finally just going to the local shelter to check out the animals. He invited me along and of course I agreed. We chose to meet at his house just in case he brought anyone new home. I doubted it would happen though. He was being so indecisive about it.

"So what's the level of grumpy this morning?" I asked as Eric came outside and we switched to his truck for the drive.

"Low, since it's already ten." At least he didn't try to argue that he was a bucket of sunshine in the morning.

"Good. You know where the shelter is?" Eric shook his head and I gave him directions towards it. It was hidden away in a quiet corner of town. Then again everything was around here.

We chatted about different things on the way there. I told Eric about work and my family. He would tell me about how pissed off he got sometimes working for the Sullivans. But overall he seemed to like it and they paid him well so it was worth it. It was nice knowing the details of his life again. Unlike Sam I didn't have to pry the information out of him. Eric just offered it up in conversation.

"So you know we might not find anything today right?" I could tell Eric was getting excited like a 5 year old on Christmas.

"Yes Mom, I know." He rolled his eyes at me as we pulled into the gravel parking lot. The building was small and only one story. They had left the front door open since it was a cool day for late summer and there was a nice breeze. Once we were out of the truck I could hear barking echoing from inside the building.

We got inside and the place looked like it definitely needed some TLC. However that meant taxing people in town more and no one was going to vote for that. Therefore the shelter had to deal with the little funding and few donations they got. I tossed the few dollars I had on me into the donation jar. These poor animals needed it more than me.

"Hello kids" An old woman came hobbling up to us from behind a small desk. It had been a long time since someone greeted me as a 'kid'. I bet I was with Eric when it had last happened.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was scratchy and I noticed the pack of cigarettes tucked into her shirt pocket. Oh well, didn't matter to me.

"I'm looking to adopt a dog and we figured I could start here." Eric offered and the woman seemed more than happy to help. She informed Eric of the adoption and vet fees to make sure any pet he might take was up to date on everything. Once he made it clear he was fine with paying for that she lead us down a hall to the left. The sounds of barking got louder and I was able to decipher the different tones in them. I could tell there were a few bigger dogs but a lot more of those tiny yappy ones.

"These are all of the dogs we have right now. Their information is on the clipboard hanging to the right of each kennel door. Of course some are just guesses for age and breed." The woman explained then wandered out the side door to smoke one of her cigarettes.

"Alright, guess we start at the beginning right?" I looked over at Eric and we both checked out the first two kennels. One had a Jack Russell Terrier that was yapping up a storm. Eric shook his head. The other had a chubby black pug.

"Aww, he's cute in a creepy way." I leaned over to the little dog who was staring up at me with bulging eyes and a squashed nosed. I reached my hand towards the door and then he started spazzing out and snapping at me. I jumped back. "Nevermind"

"Thing looks like an alien anyways. I'd be freaked if I woke up and that guy was staring me down." Eric continued on and I followed a few steps behind him.

We made it halfway down the aisle when I spotted a cute golden retriever. It said his name was Skippy. I thought it suited him since he seemed like a cheerful kind of dog. When I reached out towards him he wagged his tail and started licking my fingers.

"Eric what about him? He's friendly and not small enough to fit in your pocket." I smiled over my shoulder and Eric walked up. He stared at Skippy for awhile but for some reason I could tell he wasn't quite feeling it.

"Maybe, lets look at the rest though." Eric wandered all the way down the aisle. He went from kennel to kennel and seemed to find something wrong with every dog. One had fur too long, some were too happy, others were too loud… it was a never ending list. Then he came to a stop at the last kennel. He stuck his fingers through the kennel door but I couldn't see a dog approaching him. I walked closer and finally noticed a hulking Great Dane sitting in the corner. He looked like he was trying to hide but it wasn't working considering how big he was.

"This one, definitely this one." Eric seemed fascinated with the dog huddled up and not paying any attention to him. I grabbed the clipboard and was surprised to see it was actually a female dog and her name was Maisie. They suspected she was just about a year old. That meant the already huge dog still had some growing to do. Damn.

"Says her name is Maisie. She is cute…. Are you sure though? That's a big dog to have around." I knew Eric was an old softie and would let her in the house.

"Definitely sure. I know she's the right one. Just like I knew you were back in drawing class." He smirked and then waved the old lady down. He was such a cornball.

We ended up there for a few hours filling out paperwork then we ran to the pet store really quick to get supplies for Maisie. So by the time we went to pick her up that evening Eric had everything the dog could possibly need. He had purchased a plain brown leather collar, because according to Eric, Maisie was not a flashy type of woman. Once she was led out of her kennel I could see how big she really was.

Maisie was tall and slender. Her coat was fawn colored and faded to a black mask around her muzzle and eyes. Unlike a lot of Great Danes her ears were not cropped. Instead they flopped around at either side of her head. Now that she was moving I could tell she was a bit lanky and looked slightly out of proportion because she was going to grow more. She also seemed a tad underweight but that wasn't surprising coming from a shelter. All of her movements were cautious and timid. She seemed friendly but I hoped Eric could get her to come out of her shell some.

Eric put her new collar on and led her out to his truck. We got her into the backseat but almost had to pick her up. She seemed scared to even jump in the truck. On the ride home she was silent. In fact I hadn't heard her bark yet. Once we got back to his house and had Maisie inside she seemed very unsure of what to do. She wandered around the kitchen some then found the bowls of food and water Eric had put out for her. She didn't eat anything and continued to just stand there on the other side of the room.

"She seems really timid…you might want to be careful around her. She doesn't seem mean but if you startle her she might bite because she's afraid." I warned Eric. You had to be careful with an adopted animal. We had no idea what her history was or why she was so shy. It could just be her personality or more likely her former owners abused her.

"Yeah, I'll just let her be for now. She probably needs to settle in." Eric shrugged and it was probably for the best. No use in trying to pet her or play with her now.

"You going to that cookout Tara is having?" Eric asked as he put away some of Maisie's things in the cabinet.

"Yep, I found out she told Sam he wasn't welcome too. So that'll make it a lot more fun." I was going to go whether Sam was there or not. I wouldn't let him dictate what events I went to. However I knew I'd have a lot more fun not having to watch him and Daphne all afternoon.

"Good. You want to ride together? Seems pointless to take two cars when we're going to the same place." Tara had invited Eric now that she knew we were hanging out again.

"Sure, we can take my car. Your truck is unnecessarily loud and not a comfortable ride." It was bumpy and made me slightly car sick to be in it for too long.

"Hey it's a work vehicle. My truck can do a lot more than your wimpy Toyota." He smirked and I smacked him. I'm pretty sure I hit Eric more than the punching bag I had in my basement.

**a/n: next chapter we get to have fun at Tara's cookout! I debated so much over naming the damn dog then I watched the Maisie trailer for the millionth time and was like OH YES. PERFECT. Also Review review review! =)**


	12. Chapter 12

**a/n: sorry, I know, this took forever! my other story is sucking up all the muse! I didn't spell check so just slap me if you find a typo.**

**CHAPTER 12**

The following Saturday I went to pick up Eric at his house, since technically it was about ten minutes closer than mine. He was already outside when I got there but it looked like he was trying to get Maisie to do her business before leaving.

"I'm going to give Maggie some hay real quick." I might as well visit her while Eric waited for his dog to go to the bathroom.

I planned to let her out into the paddock for the afternoon but she was already out grazing on the sparse late summer grass. The only person who could have put her outside was the blonde giant who was scared of her. I grabbed a flake of hay and tossed it into the paddock for her and gave her a quick pat before heading back up front.

Eric was locking up the back door when I hugged him from behind. "Thanks"

He turned around and didn't let me put any distance between us by hooking his fingers through my belt loops. "For what?"

"Bringing Maggie outside. I know she still freaks you out some, so it was nice of you." I gave him a quick peck on the cheek then pranced off to my car. Yeah I wanted to just go for it and kiss him but…. I'm a wimp and fully admit it.

**Eric's POV**

Spending all of my time with Sookie over the past few weeks was perfect. We still got along great and I couldn't get enough. Yes she was my friend and I loved just sitting around talking to her or watching movies. But I also was still in love with her and more often than not wanted to shred her clothes off and attack her. Patience though. I kept reminding myself I had to be patient because I was not going to screw things up by rushing in too soon after Sam. The reassuring thing was I knew she was interested. She might not be border-line obsessed like me but I could tell. Whenever I had hugged her or put my arm around her she never backed away. Sookie was not the touchy feely type of person unless you were family or she was involved with you. So at the very least she was curious about what potential we might have a second time around.

Then she kissed me right there on my back steps. It was a kiss on the cheek but that was a lot coming from someone as mild mannered as her. She had become more outgoing in other ways over the years but it seemed like she was very much the same when it came to making the first move. I didn't mind it one bit. In fact I was quite excited for this party because I took that kiss as my signal to finally make a move.

"In a rush?" I folded myself into that tiny car of hers.

"Nope just excited to be doing something fun. Tara always throws a good party. You might have to be the DD and drive my ass home." She giggled and started driving.

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "What if I'm too drunk to drive?"

"Then we sleep on Tara's lawn chairs." She explained as if that was normal.

"I'm curious to see what you're like drunk. " Unfortunately we were both way too well behaved in high school.

"Same here" I couldn't see her eyes through her sunglasses but I could feel her gaze on me for a few seconds."I figure as long as we start drinking early we can sober up before driving home."

I liked that reasoning. It was only one in the afternoon so we had plenty of time.

When we arrived at Tara's house there was already a line of cars down the side of the road and into her driveway. Sookie parked behind the last car and we grabbed the few things we brought and headed to the backyard. I could already hear music playing loud. Tara had a small, one floor house, but it was well kept and had a pretty big yard. She also had a pretty awesome in ground swimming pool, along with a patio around it and an expensive grill setup. There were nice outdoor chairs placed in clusters around the pool and a volleyball game going on near the shed as well. Sookie had said Tara inherited some money from a family member and that was how she afforded her luxurious backyard setup.

All in all it was pretty freaking awesome. I had never been to Tara's before but I was glad I got invited. She definitely knew how to throw a party.

"Sook! You're here!" Tara came rushing over and wrapped Sookie up in a hug.

"Yes, I made it." She smiled and handed Tara some dish of food she had brought.

"Hey Eric, nice to see you around again" Tara smiled up at me.

"Glad to be back" I grinned. "I brought this for you" I handed her a bottle of what Sookie said was her favorite wine. I wasn't going to be the ass that showed up to the party empty handed.

"Thanks, I'll go put this with the other drinks. You guys grab any food you want, and the pool's open." Tara took the wine and food then brought it to the table. She was quickly sucked into another conversation and greeting guests. I figured it would be awhile before she was free with people still arriving.

"So what do usually do first?" I wanted to dive right into that crystal clear pool.

"Drinks!" Sookie grabbed my hand and dragged me along with her to the table loaded with different alcoholic beverages.

"Hey! Sookie!" A man came over and he was obviously gay.

"Damn girl, that ass is lookin' mighty fine." He had a glass of wine in one hand and used the other to smack said ass.

I stepped in front of Sookie and pushed his hand away. "What the hell man?" He shouldn't think he could touch here wherever he wanted. I didn't give a shit if he was gay.

"Woah Sook, who's the body guard?" He raised his hands and backed off. Good!

Sookie stepped in front of me again and smiled. "You guys have met. Lafayette don't you remember Eric? He went to high school with us."

Lafayette stared at me then looked at Sookie, then back to me. Then his gaze changed from confusion to obviously checking me out. His eyes went up and down until he finally settled on my face. "Mmmm, let me guess you're still into women?"

"Uh, yeah" I wasn't sure how to reply to that without being awkward.

"Too bad, we could have some fun. I'll let Sook have the pleasure of doing dirty things to you instead." Lafayette was still eyeing me like a piece of meat.

Sookie was blushing. I looped my arm around her waist and pulled her back against my chest. "Sounds about right to me." I grinned over her shoulder. I was making sure every male at this party knew she was not up for grabs. Even if Sookie didn't even know it quite yet.

"Shots hookah?" Lafayette smiled.

"I'm in, Eric?" Her cheerful brown eyes glanced up at me.

"Of course" I was dying to get drunk with Sookie.

Lafayette made carrot cake shots. They were freaking delicious and I downed three like nothing. Sookie had two herself then grabbed a wine cooler. I took a beer from the cooler.

A couple hours later we had mingled with plenty of the party goers. I ran into a few other friends from high school and Pam even showed up. I had invited her once Sookie said Tara wouldn't mind. They had not kept in touch over the years but they were not on bad terms either.

Sookie and I were buzzed and could probably be defined as drunk right now. We had both changed and were heading towards the pool. I was appreciating the view as she walked ahead of me. Her bikini was red with white polka-dots. I liked red, I especially liked it on Sookie's tan skin.

"Ready?" We were standing at the edge of the pool.

"It's kind of cold…." Sookie frowned. I placed my palms on her back then proceeded to push her into the pool. Yep, I'm super nice.

Her head popped up out of the water seconds later and she did not look happy. "You're an ass!"

"I know!" I yelled then jumped in right next to her, sufficiently splashing her.

"A real big ass…" She muttered and started walking towards the stairs that led out of the pool. I grabbed her and pulled her back.

"You're not getting away that easily." I laughed and pulled her back towards the deep end of the pool. Sookie tried to be grumpy and fight me for a few seconds but quickly caved and started giggling. She was definitely drunk.

I vaguely remembered Pam saying her and Amelia would join us in the pool. They weren't here yet though and I could care less. I had Sookie pinned against the wall of the pool. It was too deep for me to stand so I had to hold onto the edge, on either side of her head. She apparently did not want to swim so each of her hands were hooked over my bi-ceps to keep her afloat.

She had this small smile on her lips. "You kind of look 15 again"

"How so?" I grinned and pulled myself even closer so my body was pressed against hers. Her bare skin against mine felt perfect.

"Your hair, it's hanging in your eyes. You never used to style your hair." She reached up with one hand and instead of fixing my wet hair just ran her fingers through it.

"You don't like my hair now?" My drunk self was very concerned about this.

"I like it, it suits grown up Eric." She was biting her lip, god I wanted her. "Sometimes I miss it though."

I had a feeling we weren't talking about hair anymore. "Me too. But it's not sometimes. I miss it all the time."

She just stared up at me with big brown eyes until I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't care if we were drunk and everyone was watching. I closed the gap between us and kissed her. Her lips felt familiar but new at the same time. I'm not sure how to describe it. She kissed me the same way she had years ago but it felt like there was more confidence behind it now. She proved that when her tongue darted out and slid across my bottom lip. I wanted to let go of the pool and wrap my arms around her, but that would make us both drown. Instead I pressed her into the wall as much as possible with my body.

Her lips parted beneath mine and my tongue slid over hers. Our lip lock remained slow and burning. The intense heat was building between us and I could feel her hands move away from my arms to wrap around my neck.

"Hey! No fucking in the pool!" God damn it Pam! She really had bad timing. "You have to do it on the patio so at least we can watch."

Amelia was giggling besides her as they both walked into the pool. Pam couldn't jump in because she might get her hair wet. God forbid!

"Shut up Pam" I snapped at her and didn't move from where I was. I looked back at Sookie, worried she might want to dart away and get some space. She was never one for being the center of attention.

"You're still a good kisser." She grinned.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah" She leaned forward and captured my lips again. That surprised me. But then she pushed me back towards the middle of the pool, and dunked my head under the water. Typical woman using something sexual to distract me.

"Hey, that was definitely cheating!" I grabbed her when she tried to escape. The next half hour consisted of play fighting and flirting that had Pam wanting to puke. I was too drunk to care and elated that things might be going somewhere with Sookie. Plus I was a goof, that hadn't changed since I was fifteen. I could care less if the other guys around thought I looked like an idiot. I was having fun with my woman. She definitely was mine.

**a/n: yay they finally kissed! It only took them 11 chapters to get there! Hehehe =)**


	13. Chapter 13

**a/n: I think this is the longest chapter so far, and we get to another flashback as well. Just an FYI there is content NSFW in this chapter so beware.**

**CHAPTER 13**

**Eric's POV**

The rest of Tara's party was spent with me glued to Sookie. I couldn't not touch her now that things had shifted some between us. By the end of the night both of us had sobered up and stopped drinking hours ago. In fact it was early morning and the ten of us left were sitting around a fire Tara had going in the backyard. Pam and Amelia were still here along with Lafayette and a few others I did not know as well. Sookie and I had snagged the loveseat that was part of some outdoor furniture set Tara had. I had carried it over to the fire so we could sit on something comfortable, and so I could keep her close.

There was a bit of a chill in the air making the shorts and tank top Sookie had on not enough. I was more than okay with the results though. She was snuggled into my side with her head resting against my shoulder. I had my arm around her shoulders, my fingers moving through the ends of her blonde hair.

"So I guess some things never change." Tara gave us a pointed look then turned her attention to me. "But besides that, what have you been up to Eric?"

"I'm an engineer at Sullivan's construction. That's pretty much it…. Oh and I got a dog." Poor Maisie probably needed to go outside or already went in my house.

"What kind?"

"A Great Dane" I grinned with pride.

"So now there's two giants in your house. That must be fun." Tara laughed at her own joke then almost fell off her chair. She was wasted. But she could just walk inside to her bed so it didn't really matter.

The conversation dimmed to nothing and for awhile we all just watched the fire. The orange flames were the only source of light, crackling and sending sparks up into the night sky. It was late summer and fall would be upon us soon. I was looking forward to the winter weather and hoped Sookie would be around to share it with me. Eventually everyone started getting up to head home. Lafayette was staying at Tara's and he was the first to stumble into the house and collapse. Sookie was practically passed out on me. I assumed I would be driving us home.

We said goodnight to Tara. Sookie barely mumbled something that sounded like 'see ya'.

"Make sure she gets home safe" Tara rolled her eyes at her friend. "She always wants to fall asleep whenever she's been drinking."

"Good to know and you know I will." I had one arm around Sookie's waist to keep her upright as we walked to the car. She was not wasted just ready to collapse and go to sleep at any second. It was kind of funny.

I took the key and drove us back to my house in silence. Sookie was asleep in the passenger's seat. When I turned the engine off I reached over and gently shook her shoulder. "Sookie?"

She made a grouchy face and turned away from me.

"Sookie?" I was chuckling quietly. "Do you want to sleep here?" I doubted she wanted to drive her car home.

"Mmmm" She mumbled and curled up more in the seat. I tried not to laugh too much at her as I got out of the tiny car. I went to her side and picked her up to bring her in the house.

When I miraculously unlocked the door while carrying her, Maisie was standing in the kitchen. She had her head down and her tail between her legs. I noticed the puddle on the floor. Wonderful. I hope there were not any bigger messes in the house. I set Sookie down on the couch and went to take care of the dog. I cleaned up the mess then took her outside just in case. We walked into the backyard and in the moonlight I could see Maggie watching us. We had not planned on staying so late at Tara's. I bet Sookie meant to put her horse back in the barn.

"I'm going to put you in your stall. So you better behave... please." I hooked Maisie's leash over the fence to keep her in one spot while I got Maggie. I grabbed the lead rope and slowly walked into the paddock. I did not like being in a closed space with such a big animal.

"Just don't kick me okay?" I cautiously reached out and clipped the rope onto her halter. The horse just stared back at me with wide eyes. "Don't look so innocent. I know you're going to wipe your spit on me or something."

I turned and started leading her to the barn. We made it to just outside her stall when she reached over and started nibbling on my shirt. Now it was bound to be covered in green slime from her mouth. "You just can't keep your mouth off me eh? Have you been giving Sookie advice?"

Then I heard Maisie bark from outside the barn. It was one of the three times she had barked since I got her. "I guess my other lady needs me." I locked up Maggie's stall and patted her nose.

"She does." I turned to see a tired Sookie wandering down the aisle.

I couldn't help the smile on my face as she walked up and wrapped her arms around me. "Why are you out here?"

"I remembered I left Maggie out... but I guess it's taken care of." She had her face buried in my chest and looked a little cold.

"Come on let's get the other blonde waiting outside." I felt her laugh against me.

We got Maisie and brought her into the house. She wandered off to lay down on the dog bed I bought her. I bought the biggest one and it was still a bit small for her. Then I lead Sookie upstairs to my room.

"You can sleep in here, I'll take my old room." Once I bought the house I did not return to sleeping in my smaller childhood bedroom. Instead I moved into my mother's old room and put a huge ass king size bed in there. It had one of those nice memory foam mattresses that you can just sink into.

Sookie stepped into the room and looked around. It was pretty plain. The walls were light grey, the furniture was black, and the bed had a cobalt blue comforter with grey pinstripes. One of the best things about the room was the hardwood floor. It was easy to clean and went with any color scheme I picked.

"I don't want to steal your bed. I can sleep in your old room. It still has a bed right?"

"Yes, but I really don't mind." I gave Sookie a t-shirt to sleep in and grabbed a pair of basketball shorts for myself.

Twenty minutes later I was laying in my old full-size bed. The room was smaller and had a grey carpeted floor. The walls were a shade of blue I had picked out years ago, now I thought it was hideous. Most of my old belongings were packed up in boxes or given to charity. So the bed, desk, and bookshelf were all that remained. There was also a Vans sticker stuck to the wall that I could not get off without chipping all the paint around it. Seriously, why did I think putting that sticker on the wall was a good idea? It was meant for skateboards not your bedroom.

I shut my eyes to try and go to sleep. It had to be around three in the morning. Then I heard the door creak open. I was expecting to see Maisie pushing her nose through the crack in the door so she could lay down on the carpet. I had seen her asleep in here a few times. Instead it was Sookie, wearing my t-shirt that went down to her knees. She did not say anything but just crawled into bed next to me. She burrowed herself into my side and I pulled the blankets up around us. The bed was small to share with someone my size but that never stopped us in the past. I could feel from her steady breathing Sookie was already asleep again. My fingers trailed up and down her arm. I could remember countless times when we were in this same room together.

_-Flashback-_

"Bye Mom" I gave my mother her millionth hug within the last fifteen minutes.

"Behave, don't get into any trouble, and don't burn my house down" She smiled at me then headed for the car. Those were normal things to say to your seventeen year old son when you were going away for the weekend. However I knew she wasn't worried too much. I was pretty trustworthy for a teenager.

I quickly called Sookie the second her car was out of sight on the street.

"Hello?" She had my name in her cell phone I knew that, but everytime she always sounded unsure of who it was.

"Guess who it is" I grinned and walked back into my house.

"Hmmm, could it be Eric? The only person who ever calls my cell phone?" She giggled on the other end of the line.

We both finally had cell phones. However neither of us had texting and we both had limited minutes. We couldn't afford to pay for anything else.

"My mom just left for the weekend so you can come over whenever you want." My mom was heading out for a vacation with a friend. I was pretty sure she had just started seeing someone. I was a bit bothered by it, but only because I didn't want to see her hurt again. It did however allow for some alone time with my girlfriend. Sookie had stayed over once before when my mom went away and we had a great time eating junk and watching movies all night.

Now I did not want to go making assumptions but I had a feeling this time might be different. As of a few days ago Sookie had been on the pill for two months. This would be our first time being completely alone in awhile.

"Alright, I told my parents I was going to Tara's at six so I'll be over in a couple hours." Sookie explained quietly on the other end of the phone. I bet her brother was around somewhere.

"Ok see you in a bit, I'll order some pizza too." We said goodbye and then I made sure the house was neat. I also cleaned my room since I was not the most organized person. My room was far from dirty but I tended to leave things on the floor instead of putting them away.

A couple hours later I opened the door for Sookie and there was a box of pizza in her hands.

"When did the delivery guy get so hot?" I smiled and pulled her into the house.

"Boy if you think the delivery guy is hot, we might have a problem" She smiled and stood on her toes to give me a kiss.

I grabbed the pizza box and set it on the counter. "I guess he got here at the same time?"

Sookie nodded and I pulled her in for a much better welcoming kiss. We were both quickly distracted with each other and forgot about the pizza. I wasn't hungry anyway. My fingers knotted into her hair as I pushed her against the counter. But then I abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Sookie was searching my face.

"I just, I don't want you to think I have any expectations. Nothing has to happen tonight." Of course I wanted it to. However I loved her, I didn't want her to think we had to do anything just because she was sleeping over.

"And what if I have expectations?" She seemed shy as the first day I met her as she spoke. I could see the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Then I'll just have to go along with your evil plans I guess." She smiled a little and that's what I wanted. I did not want her to be nervous.

Somehow we ended upstairs making out on my bed. The pizza was cold and forgotten on the counter downstairs. My lips moved along her skin and I knew all the right buttons to push. We might not have had sex but anything we could do that would not result in pregnancy had happened. So I knew this girl like the back of my hand. Said hand was currently buried between her thighs while I worked her into a frenzy.

My shirt was already long gone and I could feel her soft hands gliding over my skin. I moved from her mouth down to her neck, my tongue swirling over her skin and making her moan. Then my hand moved to the hem of her shirt and started to push it up. Sookie leaned forward enough so I could pull it off. Then she made quick work of her bra and tossed it on the floor with the growing pile of clothing.

This girl had amazing breasts. Of course they were the only ones I had seen in real life but I was sure they were the best. I knew everything about Sookie was real unlike the women you saw in the media. I resumed kissing her and pressed my body against hers. There was nothing better than the feeling of skin on skin. I felt her nipples brush against my chest and decided to move things along. My jeans were already insanely uncomfortable, I didn't want to ruin this by being done before we got started.

My lips moved down to her breasts and started sucking on one of her nipples. I could feel her breathing getting uneven. I continued worshiping her breasts while my fingers undid the button on her jeans and pulled down the zipper. This was all still familiar territory but I had to admit I was starting to get nervous. I didn't want to mess this up or make it more painful than it needed to be. Sookie seemed to notice my focus was a little off. She pulled my face back to hers.

"Are you okay?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I felt ridiculous. She was already nervous I shouldn't be making it worse.

"Eric I might be the girl, but it's still a first for both of us." Her words made me feel slightly better. I knew Sookie and she knew me. We had talked about this moment plenty of times before. Neither of us had any expectations of the other.

"Sorry I guess you're not the only one that's nervous." I gave her a small smile.

"It kind of makes me feel better that I'm not the only one." She whispered.

"You know I love you right?"

"I know" She pulled me back into another kiss and for now words were forgotten.

I made quick work of her jeans and panties by pulling them off in one shot. Then worked my way down her body, my lips following an invisible trail down her skin. I could feel her eyes on me as my mouth hovered just above her center. Losing our virginity might be a bit of a mess but I planned on giving her one hell of an orgasm before it. I dipped my head down and my tongue slid through her folds slowly, I kept my eyes on hers the entire time. The heat between us was building and our earlier awkwardness long forgotten.

I continued to work her with my lips and tongue until her fingers were digging into my hair and I felt her entire body tense. After a few seconds her grip on my hair relaxed and I slid my tongue over her slit one last time, causing her to shiver with pleasure. I moved back up her body lightly kissing her neck. Sookie started to push my jeans down and slid her hand into my boxers to start stroking me. I was already hard and I knew once I was inside her it wouldn't take much for me to come. So instead of enjoying her touching me like usual I got up and rid myself of the rest of my clothes. Then I grabbed a condom from the nightstand next to my bed and rolled it on with rather shaky hands. I couldn't help my nerves, I didn't want to fuck this up.

Sookie watched my every move as I came back over and positioned myself between her thighs, my body hovering over hers. I could tell she was just as nervous. But the look in her brown eyes told me she trusted me and wanted this just as much as I did.

"You ready?" I asked and was sure she could probably hear my heart pounding.

She nodded. I leaned down and lightly pressed my lips to hers as I pushed into her. My eyes were open and so were Sookie's. It was easily the most intense moment of my life. I tried not to think too much about how good she felt wrapped around me. I wasn't even halfway in when she started to wince and her expression went from nervous anticipation to pain. I stopped moving even though my body was screaming at me to do the opposite. Her fingers were digging into my shoulders and she shut her eyes for a few seconds.

I had no idea what to do. Should we stop?

Then Sookie opened her eyes and gave me a small smile. "Just go slow"

I nodded and pushed in a little further. She was tight and I was sure her body was fighting me due to nerves. Finally I was completely buried in her and I was damn sure this was heaven. I was resting my weight on my forearms, my forehead against hers.

"Still okay?" I was already out of breath from concentrating so damn much.

Sookie nodded and I slowly started to move my hips. She was definitely still uncomfortable but not in as much pain as when we started. I tried to keep my thrusts slow and smooth, but I was no expert at this so who knows if I was doing exactly that. I could feel her relaxing beneath me as her hands moved from my shoulders to my hair. She pulled my lips down to hers and her teeth tugged at my bottom lip. She never tried to move her hips but I suspected she still wasn't feeling 100%.

I was already going to be done soon and there was no fighting it. I pulled my lips from hers and buried my face in her hair as I felt my orgasm approaching. My hips thrust against her a little more forcefully a couple times and I came undone. My entire body shuddered and I tried to not just collapse on top of her. I wasn't the lightest guy in the world. I pleasantly felt like jello and could fall asleep inside her right now. I lightly kissed the side of her face, still out of breath.

"Can I just stay here forever?" I grinned down at her as she pushed some of my unruly hair out of my eyes,

"You can but then you'll miss out on showering with me." She smiled. Smart girl, tempting me with more naked time.

I pulled out of her and noticed blood on the condom. That was normal though, or so I was told. I got up and headed to the bathroom to get rid of it. I also turned the shower on while I was in there.

"You're ok right? There was a little blood…" I sat down on the edge of the bed. Sookie was sitting up with the sheets wrapped around her bottom half.

"I think I'm fine, that's supposed to happen. I'll probably just be a little sore." She shrugged her shoulders and scooted over so I could put my arm around her.

"I really don't like that you can't enjoy that as much as I did." I frowned and stared at the floor. There was no way around it but I still did not like feeling selfish.

"Eric" I didn't look up immediately so she grabbed my face so I had to look in her eyes. "Quit being a crazy goofus. Even if it wasn't physically thrilling for me I don't care. I love you and I wanted my first time to be with you. That made it perfect. I don't need an orgasm to know that you care."

I sighed and ran my hands over my face. Everything was fine, Sookie was fine. I was seriously freaking out over nothing.

"Plus practice makes perfect right? We'll get the hang of it." She grinned then got up and darted towards the bathroom.

I was definitely down for that program. I ran after her and we wasted another hour in the shower. Nothing more than some good making out happened since I knew she wasn't up for much else right away. We had plenty of fun wasting the hot water and fooling around though.

When we finally made it back downstairs Sookie was bundled up in pajama pants and one of my sweatshirts. I had on a t-shirt and sleep pants as well since it was pretty cold out. The pizza was freezing so we heated it up then settled on the couch to watch a marathon of the first season of Lost. We both had seen a few episodes and were quickly getting hooked. It was probably for the best we got sex out of the way when she arrived. Otherwise I'm sure both of us would have been anxious and thinking about it all night, unable to enjoy any movies or conversation we actually had.

Once we finished our food we settled in with a huge blanket. I had my head in Sookie's lap and she was running her fingers through my hair again. It was only the second episode of the marathon but I was sure I'd fall asleep soon. I was completely content relaxing on the couch with my girl. I hoped this would never change.

_End Flashback _

I was still staring at the ceiling. Sookie was asleep next to me, one arm thrown across my bare torso. Having this woman back in my life was what I had wanted for a long time now. Looking back on it I definitely thought we made a mistake by breaking up. However her sleeping form nestled against held the promise of a second chance.

**a/n: A few readers had asked if that scene would be a flashback. I always planned on putting it in the story I just needed the right time. And Sookie losing her virginity was not a bucket of sunshine, which I doubt many readers will mind too much. I just get annoyed sometimes when I read tons of stories, SVM fic or not, where it's a girl's first time and magically after 10 seconds she feels zero pain and is totally into it. I don't know anyone who had an experience like that ever... so yeah... anyways haha thanks for reading and as always please review! **


	14. Chapter 14

**a/n: hello my lovely readers, I hope everyone is not working too hard now that the holidays are over! Sorry if my updates have been slow. I'm trying to at least keep up with once a week updates but sometimes you just never know. Plus if anyone cares I hit up a trampoline park over the weekend, so much FUN. My body hurts like hell but it was a blast jumping around and bouncing off walls fora couple hours. If there's one near you, go!**

**Chapter 14**

Sookie's POV

I woke up the following morning unsure of where I was. When I tried to move I felt a lot of dead weight on top of me. I lazily opened my eyes and felt a slight headache coming on. Ah, I went to Tara's and got drunk. That was fun but where was I now? Without moving I looked around and recognized Eric's familiar blue bedroom. Well it was his old bedroom now since I vaguely remembered him telling me to sleep in his room. It was never easy to remember the events of the night when I was barely awake for the last quarter of it. Most of his belongings were gone from the room. I couldn't help but smile though. There were a lot of good memories for us in this house.

Somehow we had shifted in the night and Eric ended up on top of me, his head using my boobs as a pillow. That would be why I could not move. I did need to go to the bathroom but it could wait a few minutes. His hair was a mess from the pool and sleeping. The blonde strands were sticking up in odd directions but I thought he looked cute. I ran my fingers through his hair slowly. I missed this and it didn't feel strange at all to be in bed with Eric after so many years. It felt normal, right.

"Mmmm" Eric sighed as my fingers moved over his scalp. Then he turned his face into my boobs more. I'm pretty sure he was awake but trying to suck out all the boob time he could.

"I know you're awake" I laughed quietly.

"Is it that obvious?" He was smiling against my skin but hadn't opened his eyes.

"When you start drowning your face in my cleavage, yes." I remembered kissing him in the pool. I hope he didn't just do that because he was drunk.

"Damn, I guess that means snuggle time is over?" He finally lifted his head up and looked at me.

"I never said that, I was just letting you know you aren't as sly as you think Northman."

Eric seemed pleased with my answer and smiled. "So you actually remember last night?"

"Of course, some parts are a bit foggy but I remember everything." He had not seen me at my worst when it came to drinking. I usually avoided that after puking a few times in college. It was so not worth the hangover.

"I guess you won't mind if I kiss you then?" Normally I would have no issue with that. Eric was an amazing kisser. I knew that for sure now. Any guys I had kissed after him paled in comparison. They always seemed to be in a rush to get to what was next.

"No but... post drunk morning breath? I don't think so." I scrunched up my nose in disgust. I could feel how gross my mouth felt. My breath had to be ten times worse!

"I can make the sacrifice." Eric smirked and didn't give me anymore chance to argue. He pushed his weight down on me to seal the deal. There was no escaping.

I didn't want to anyway. His lips on mine felt even better than last night. Right now there was no drunken haze to dull the experience. Eric's familiar kiss brought me back to being a teenager, back when just a kiss seemed like enough. He was the only man that could get me so lost in a kiss that my mind completely turned off. I wasn't thinking about anything else but him and his lips moving against mine.

"I've been waiting a long time to do that again." He breathed and ran his fingers down the side of my face.

"You want breakfast?" He was also the only man I'd ever met who put a stop to something physical first. Every other guy I had dated always pushed their limits, trying to see just how much they could get before I pushed them away. Not that any of them ever forced me into anything, it was just nice to not have to be the one to say stop.

"Sure, can you cook without burning the house down though?" I remember he tried to cook me dinner once when we were sixteen. He caught the stove on fire so we had to order Chinese.

"Yes, I've gained many skills in the kitchen... after almost setting it on fire three more times." He chuckled and got out of bed, pulling me along with him. Now that he was standing there in nothing but gym shorts I could appreciate the full view. He had filled out a lot since we were kids. I was definitely staring at all of these wonderful new muscles he had.

"Don't worry I'll leave my apron off so you can appreciate the view while I cook." There was a cocky grin on his face.

"Shut up! I'm going to the bathroom!" I smacked his butt on the way by and headed down the hall to the bathroom. I found the bag I had brought to Tara's sitting on the tile floor. I left it in here last night when I changed. I dug around and thankfully found a small travel toothbrush. I always used this bag when I traveled so the toothbrush must have been from some overnight trip. I stole some of Eric's toothpaste and felt much better after brushing my teeth. I took care of my other business and put my jean shorts back on. I was comfortable enough with Eric to wander around in panties and his shirt but I had no idea if he ever had visitors on Sunday.

It was a good thing too because as I headed downstairs I heard the door opening and loud voices. Well one loud voice.

"Eric! We're making a surprise visit and I brought cookies!" Mrs. Northman yelled just as I entered the kitchen. The man behind her had to be her fiance. I think Eric had said his name was Henry.

Her eyes went from Eric to me and then inspected my attire for a few seconds. Then her face lit up.

"Sookie!"

Eric was standing by the stove and mouthing 'sorry' to me. With the way the both of us were dressed I knew how this looked. The only difference was we were both adults now. So if I wanted to come over here and randomly have sex with Eric there was nothing anyone could do about it. However I was not the type of woman to do something like that and having his mother come barging in right now still managed to make me blush. I cursed my fair skin and wished I could be permanently tan.

"Hi" I smiled at her and before I could say anything else she wrapped me up in a hug.

"It's so wonderful to see you! Eric mentioned you were back in town." She was all smiles and it made me forget my embarrassment.

"Mom, can you let her breathe?" Eric gave his mother some kind of look that I didn't know the full meaning of.

"Oh! Of course!" She hustled around the kitchen and put the cookies near the fridge. Then she took a seat at the table with Henry. I figured I might as well sit down with them while Eric cooked.

"We were just stopping by for a visit. Henry and I are heading to that fair in Springfield and figured we would stop in since Eric is on the way." She smiled affectionately at her son who was facing the stove. "I barely get to see my little boy anymore."

"Nora you see the boy almost every week when he visits." Henry rolled his eyes.

"Oh! Sookie this is my fiancé Henry, Henry this is Sookie that Eric told you about." That comment earned a glare from the blonde cook. I wondered just how much Eric talked about me.

"Nice to meet you Henry" I gave him a small smile. I was polite but still not super chatty with people I just met. Henry grinned back and nodded. It seemed he was the quiet type too.

"So what have you been up to?" Mrs. Northman wanted the full update on my life.

I filled her in on college, getting a job, and how I wanted to move closer to home after working in my career for a few years. Meanwhile Eric finished breakfast and placed a plate of perfect looking pancakes in front of me. He sat down next to me with his own heaping pile of five pancakes. I cut into them and realized they were full of chocolate chips.

"Still eating chocolate chip pancakes?" I smirked at him. "I'm shocked you don't have the chocolate milk out."

Eric had a cup of coffee next to his plate. "For your information I do drink chocolate milk still. Just because I'm 29 doesn't mean it suddenly tastes like crap."

I laughed quietly at his reasoning and took a bite of my breakfast. It was delicious. I could also feel his mother's eyes on us, watching every interaction we had. When I glanced up at her a few times she looked all doe eyed and like she might melt into a puddle of mush at any second. Apparently his mother was hoping we were together. It really seemed that way.

"So what kind of cookies did you bring?" Eric asked and it broke his mother out of her daze.

"Chocolate with peanut butter chips. They're Henry's favorite and I had some left over."

"More like I asked if she could bake some and then she bought an extra box of mix just for you." Henry shook his head and Eric laughed. It seemed they both liked teasing his mother. I was really happy Eric and his mother had someone nice to add to their family. His father had always been such a jerk.

"Oh! You two should come to the fair with us!" Mrs. Northman gushed. I think I'll always call her that, it was stuck in my brain for too many years as a teenager.

"Um-" Eric's eyes darted to mine with uncertainty.

"Come on it will be fun! I haven't gotten to see Sookie in years." She looked really excited now and I knew Eric hated turning his mother down. He cared about making her happy.

"Well I can meet you there, I just need to change into more suitable clothes for the fair." More like I needed some fresh clothes after spending the night in your son's bed. Only sleeping of course.

"Are you sure?" Eric obviously did not want me to feel pressured into going.

"Yeah, I haven't been to the fair in years. Maybe I'll get a dough boy." I used to love going to the fair. They had a carnival section and an area with all of the farm animals, tractors and so on.

"Ok, we'll meet you guys there. We still have to finish breakfast." Eric said and his mother was practically jumping for joy.

A few minutes later they were out the door and now I had plans for the day. A sort of date with Eric, chaperoned by his mother and her fiancé. Could we be anymore high school right now? I chuckled to myself as I placed my dishes in the sink.

"What's so funny?" Eric came up behind me to put his plate in the sink.

"just thinking about how I really feel fifteen again." I turned around in the small space since he hadn't moved and leaned back against the sink, looking up at him. "I'm going to the fair with you and your mom will be there to look after us."

He grinned, leaning forward and placing his hands on the counter on either side of me. "Sorry I know she can be a bit overwhelming. She really likes you though and has been asking about you ever since I said you were back."

"What exactly did you say about me?"

"Nothing really but she just jumps to conclusions." Eric shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sure she jumped to plenty with what she walked in on this morning." I felt ridiculous being in my late twenties and actually having concern about this. But my sex life was my personal life. I didn't like to flaunt it, even if nothing had happened.

"You know she would never think less of you over something like that right? We're not sixteen anymore."

I nodded, I knew I was just being ridiculous. I bit my lip nervously.

"So... what exactly is going on here? With us?" I was pretty sure I knew what was happening but I liked to hear things spoken.

"Sookie I've been hoping to get a second chance with you since I saw you at the reunion. So for me, I'm hoping that I'm finally getting it." Eric's blue eyes were blazing as he searched my expression.

Well that was honest. His intense gaze was overwhelming and for a few seconds I said nothing. I noticed Eric started to move away, assuming the wrong thing.

"You are" I answered quickly then grabbed his face and pulled him down to kiss me. I was starting to wonder if we really needed to go to the fair. Maybe we could stay here all day, minus the clothes?

**a/n: I know not much going on in this chapter, but it served as a good transition and we get to see Eric's cool mom again. I also realized I haven't let poor Sookie's parents in on this tale yet. So we will definitely be hearing from them at some point! Maybe Jason and Jessica too!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**a/n: so I was bad as usual and did not spell check this. All errors are mine as usual, hopefully it's not so littered with typos you have to stop reading! Now, off to the fair!**

**Sookie's POV**

I had run out to the backyard to take care of Maggie quickly before driving back to my house. I wanted to take a shower and have clean clothes before going out for the day. It had been tempting to stay locked up in the house with Eric but I was looking forward to spending the day with him. There was a nervous excitement knotting my stomach. I don't know why, since I had been spending time with Eric for weeks now. You would also think that since I had been on plenty of dates with him in the past this would be no big deal. However I was excited and couldn't help smiling at myself in the mirror as I did my hair.

Since we would be outside all day I left it down and straight, something easy to pull back into a ponytail if it got windy outside. I dabbed on some light makeup and lip gloss before skipping to my room for clothes. Yes I skipped, I admit it! My apparel had to be simple and I was okay with that. Dressing up once in awhile was fine but I was never the girl wanting to go somewhere fancy just to dress in high heels. Those things fucking hurt! I slipped on a pair of denim shorts again with a coral colored tank top. I wanted to wear flip-flops but figured it wasn't the best choice for dusty fairgrounds. Therefore I settled on some low top Converse I had for years.

Just as I made it into the kitchen the doorbell rang. I walked over to the back door and opened it for Eric.

"Hey! I'm almost ready." I turned to grab my bag but Eric grabbed me and kissed me hard.

Well it was one way of saying hello and I liked it.

"Hi" He grinned and let me go. I think he just liked proving he could do that whenever he wanted again.

I grabbed my purse and we headed out to his truck. Eric's hair was neatly parted back again. He looked like his usual adult self with a slight stubble on his face. It really was funny that it took him long to fill out and get facial hair, but he looked damn near perfect now. If I did not know he was such a goofball I might be intimidated by his male model appearance. Luckily I knew Eric better than any woman ever had, at least I think I do.

"How many girlfriends have you had?" I asked as we drove towards the highway.

Eric seemed to freeze up for a second. Oops, maybe I should have asked after the fair? I was just curious and not trying to grill him with questions.

"Um, well I guess one?" He shrugged and kept his eyes on the road.

"What? You haven't seen anyone since me back in high school?" I found that hard to believe.

"I've dated but I wouldn't really call any of them my girlfriends. It was never a serious relationship or anything. It was more like I was bored." He explained and I wondered if he had just been having a lot of casual flings. I wouldn't hold it against him, I would never expect someone to sit around alone.

"Oh…"

"Can I ask you something now?" He fidgeted with the stereo then took the ramp to get on the highway.

"Sure" I replied and Eric seemed a bit uneasy. Weird.

"I would be polite and ask how many boyfriends you've had, but really I'm curious about how many guys you've been with…?" I knew that meant how many men I had sex with besides him.

"fifteen" I answered calmly and I saw him try to cover up his shocked expression. He did a pretty good job of recovering quickly.

"Oh, okay, I was just wondering." Wow, he really kept his cool and made me think he was fine with it. Damn!

"I'm kidding Eric! It's three counting you." I had only slept with two other guys besides Eric. One was Sam and the other was a guy I had started seeing in college. Both were boyfriends but obviously it did not work out. Being shy did not make it easy to go and have random hookups.

"Geez, you really had me fooled." Eric leaned back in his seat and obviously relaxed some. I could tell it bothered him that my number might have been that high, but it was nice to know he wouldn't have ditched me right away for it. He passed my secret little test without even knowing it.

"Sorry" I giggled and changed the radio station. "I can't believe you bought that. You know how quiet I am when I first meet people."

"I know and I never would have pegged you for having a number that high. But come on Sookie, you're a beautiful girl, I know there's probably a lot more than fifteen guys that want to be with you." Could he be any cuter?

"So Northman what's your number?" This I was very curious about.

"Five…" He mumbled and stared at the road ahead.

"Oh, okay." That was lower than I expected. I would never think Eric was a manwhore since he had never been that kind of guy. But I figured he would have at least been around eight.

"Yeah…" He seemed embarrassed and I was not sure why.

"It's not a big deal Eric." I shrugged. Was he crazy enough to think I thought he should be celibate this entire time?

"I know, it's just I know you probably were in relationships with the two other guys you were with. I wasn't in a relationship with anyone but you. I guess I just don't want you to think less of me for it." He frowned and turned off the highway towards Springfield.

"Eric unless you had some one night stand and kicked the girl out of your house without a second thought, I don't care. You're an adult and so was whoever you were with. I don't think of you any differently and I never would. It's ridiculous to think either of us hasn't had some other experiences since high school. " Of course in a dream world we never would have broken up. We would have been each other's first and only been with each other. But this was reality and sometimes life did not let you do exactly what you wanted.

"No, I've never even had a one night stand to be honest. I always dated for a few weeks but then things just fizzled out. I could never find anyone that I got along with as much…. Well as much as you." He gave me a bashful smile then turned into the fairgrounds.

I did not realize we had been talking for so long. I gave him a small smile in return and hoped he could not see I was blushing at his confession. It seemed like Eric had been comparing everyone to me for years, just like I compared all of my boyfriends to him.

The truck rumbled over the field they had allotted for parking. Eric drove down the lanes of cars parked in the flattened and dry grass. This was the type of event that made me feel completely at home. I grew up in the country so the lack of pavement and official parking spots was just a plus. Eric parked at the end of one of the rows and we hopped out. I reached over and held his hand as we started walking towards the entrance line. It was just a small white ticket booth and Eric paid for both of our tickets.

"Thanks, I could've paid you know." I smiled up at him.

"You could have, but I'm counting this as a date. So that would be rude." He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me along with him into the fair. "So, what first?"

"The animals!"

"I figured that." He laughed and we walked through the carnival section, then through a arts and crafts section, to finally reach the corner of the grounds the animals were at.

"Aww, look at this guy" I crooned over a brown and white calf that was poking his nose through the fence at me. Eric was standing right behind me unsure if the calf was safe to pet.

"Looks like your lady is gettin' along with Haystack." A man in coveralls said from his spot on a metal chair in the dirt aisle of the fair barn. "He's for sale ya know. I could give you a mighty good price for him."

"No thanks, I don't think we need any more pets." Eric said politely and we both moved on down the aisle. That guy reminded me of the Home Depot guy who thought I was Eric's wife. Except this time the situation did not get my stomach in knots. Maybe it was because this time I was actually dating the right guy.

"What the hell is that?" Eric leaned over one of the fences and pointed at an animal laying down.

"A llama you doofus. You asked me that before, I swear, and you can never remember what a llama looks like." I laughed.

Eric grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back against him. "Hey, no making fun of the city kid." He was far from a kid.

"I'm pretty sure we took all of the 'city' out of you." I turned in his arms and looked up at him.

"Not quite, I can still get around Boston like a native. Meanwhile if it was you, you'd be lost in seconds." He grinned and I decided to just kiss it right off his cocky face.

It worked like a charm. It was a struggled to keep the kiss PG while standing in the barn with plenty of families walking by.

"Eric! Sookie!" His mother yelled and that proved to be the best way to separate us.

"Hi Mom, hey Henry" Eric rolled his eyes and turned towards them, keeping his fingers wrapped around mine.

"I'm so happy you two made it!" She looked at our hands and practically jumped for joy. I wondered when she was going to start asking about grandkids.

"What have you guys seen so far?" I asked as we all started to exit the barn.

"Just the crafts because Nora wanted to buy some ugly blanket." Henry shrugged, as if he had no idea what she wanted with a blanket.

"It's not ugly! It's homemade, it's going to last for years." She insisted to him and shook the bag in one of her hands in his direction. I could tell Eric was trying to not laugh. This was the kind of family interaction he should have been able to enjoy years ago.

"Anyway we were going to watch the tractor pulls then get lunch." Henry explained.

"You want to do that?"

"Sure, then we can get onion rings and soda." I told Eric and we headed off to another larger barn they were having the tractor pulls in. It actually looked like a large dirt horseback riding arena that they were using for the event. There were bleachers on each long wall and the tractors would drive up the center, pulling as much weight as they could.

Henry and Mrs. Northman sat in the bleachers while Eric and I opted to stand behind the fence at the bottom, to get the up close view. I was leaning against the chain link fence when I felt him step up behind me, resting his arms on either side of mine on the fence. It felt like being wrapped in an Eric cocoon as he leaned down and rested his chin on my shoulder. Any other guy doing this I would have called clingy. But this was Eric and he could almost get away with anything when it came to me.

"Careful, the grown ups are watching." I smirked.

"Mmmm, it's okay. My mom is probably chewing Henry's ear off about how delighted she is."

"That's true. I really like him Eric, he seems like such a good guy. It's nice to see you and your mom so happy." I still wanted to slap his father for being such a dick all these years.

"He is great, he treats my mom so good and he even tries to be polite to my dad if they run into him at a function. The man is a saint." His fingers were slowly moving up and down my arm. He was very distracting, I didn't know if the green tractor got first or the black one with flames painted on it.

We watched the rest of the tractor pulls in comfortable silence. I was enjoying being close to him and so at ease. It was hard to remember why I ever missed Sam now. Once the event ended they announced that in the evening they would be doing horse pulls. I informed Eric we would most definitely be watching that. Then we went off to get some grub with his mom and Henry. The guys went to stand in line for burgers and fries while the girls found the seats.

and I found a picnic table near the food stand we picked and sat down.

"So did Eric eat all the cookies after I left this morning?" She asked suspiciously.

"No he actually only had two." We both knew he could demolish the entire batch in one sitting.

"Good, he always eats so fast. I don't know why that boy thinks the food is going to disappear." She shook her head. "I'm so glad you two found each other again though."

Her face turned serious. I don't know how ready I was for a serious conversation with his mother. "Eric has been doing fine and has made a good life for himself. But he really missed you Sookie. He would never admit it to me but I know he always had second thoughts about you two going your separate ways all those years ago. Ever since you came back he's so full of life again. Sometimes I feel like I'm dealing with a mischievous 17 year old again, which isn't a bad thing." She winked and smiled at me.

"Well I'm really happy to be around him again too. Now that I get to see him all the time, it feels like I have my best friend back." That was the most I could give her. It meant a lot that she approved of Eric and I being together, and that she thought I had such an effect on his life.

I felt my cell phone buzz in my pocket.

**E – Is my mother annoying you?**

**S – No! We're having girl talk!**

**E – Sure… we'll see if you get the onion rings now.**

I looked over at the food line and found him staring back at me. I grinned and looked back to his mother.

"See what I mean?" She said with a knowing nod. I just laughed, I had no other reply.

The guys took another ten minutes to get the food but when they came over I saw my carton of onion rings. I knew Eric wouldn't let me down, he couldn't be that mean.

"I haven't had carnival food in ages." I was way too happy to be eating processed, greasy food.

"Me either, save me some rings." Eric said as he dug into his fries and burger.

We spent another hour browsing through the art and crafts section of the fair with his mother. She really liked that section. She even forced Henry to try on a t-shirt with a howling wolf on it then decided maybe it did not look good with his skin tone. You always found weird ass shirts at the fair! I made Eric try on one of those beanies with the dreads attached to it. He was a good sport and stuck his tongue out when I took a picture with my phone. I also secretly made it my new background.

"You up for some games?" Eric lead the way down the game lane of the carnival area. There were vendors at each one yelling out to us to come and win a prize.

"Are you ready for a girl to beat you?" I was confident in my dart throwing.

"Ah, a challenge. I'm definitely down." We picked a dart booth that had balloons to throw the darts at.

"Hello sir! What can I get you and the beautiful lady?!" He was yelling even though we were a foot away now. I always wondered why carnival employees commented on how good looking the girl was but never had I seen a female carnival employee comment on some girl's boyfriend.

"Two rounds" Eric slapped the money down and I didn't bother trying to pay. He wouldn't let me.

The man slid our darts to us and explained we had to have all five darts hit balloons to win a big prize.

"Get ready to lose Stackhouse." Eric picked up his first dart and tossed it. He popped a blue balloon.

I tossed mine after some careful aiming and hit it. It went on like this until we both were on our final dart.

"Don't cry too much when you lose." I smiled and threw my last dart, perfectly hitting a pink balloon. Eric threw his and missed by an inch.

"Aha! Looks like the lady won! What kind of prize do you want? You can pick from the top row!" He smiled.

"I'll take the banana." I was handed a huge stuffed banana with a smiling face on it, that was almost as tall as me. I handed it over to Eric. "Here you go honey, I won this for you!"

I was sure I'd end up with the banana at my house but it was fun teasing him. Usually the girl lost and the guy gave her the prize. So now Eric got to carry the banana the rest of the night.

We made it to the horse pulls and I watched with complete interest as different sets of draft horses were brought in. These animals were trained year-round for events like these, a contest to see whose animals could pull the most weight. A pair of bulky and slightly dirty looking Belgians beat out a gleaming pair of black Percherons. The older man in beaten looking overalls was smiling ear to ear as they gave his horses the blue looked like a local and this was probably the highlight of his summer. I was happy to see him win instead of the rich looking owner of the black horses.

It was dark out when Eric and I finally made it back to his truck. It had been a long but amazing day.

"I think the banana can hang out in the backseat." He opened the door and shoved it into the back then shut the door.

"Um, aren't you going to let me get in?" He just shut the passenger door, he could have left it open for me.

"No" Eric stepped closer and I could tell where his mind was by the predatory look in his blue eyes.

His arms caged me against the side of the truck so I had to lean back against the door. He was looking down at me but not moving closer. I was going to burst into flames simply from the heat in his watchful gaze. I lost my patience and stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his. Eric kissed me back and his body pressed against mine. I liked the feeling of being trapped against his body. He started to suck on my bottom lip and I let my hands explore all of those new muscles he had. It was too bad he had a t-shirt on to cover it all.

I could feel his fingers digging into my hips as he tried to pull me even closer, when there was already no distance between us. Our tongues were dueling and my body felt on fire. I had never felt this kind of burning passion with Sam or anyone since Eric. Now that I was getting another chance to feel this it seemed ten times more intoxicating. I forgot we were against the side of his pick up in the middle of the fairground parking lot. I slid my hands up under his shirt and my fingers dragged down the tight muscles of his back. I felt more than heard the deep sigh that shuddered through his body. His lips moved down to my neck and his tongue swiped over my skin before sucking on the same spot. I had to focus on not making any noise when what I really wanted was to shove him down on the ground and see how good this would feel sans clothes.

When I felt him starting to flex his hips against me I had to push him back. "Eric…"

"Hmm?" He kept kissing my neck and lightly biting my shoulder.

"We're in the parking lot, other people around…" I couldn't seem to form a full sentence as my hands dug into his hair and held him close.

I felt his grip on me lessen and he sighed in frustration against my skin. "You're sure you don't have any invisibility powers you've been hiding from me?"

I laughed, only Eric would say that. "No, not yet. I'm still working on the super powers thing. I have my skin tight spandex outfit at home though."

"Now that could be interesting." He kissed me slowly then finally stepped back.

We turned to get into the truck and noticed a group of teenagers standing by their car gawking at us and giggling. I had not even heard them laughing and wondered how much of a show they got. Oh well, I'd much rather be the one enjoying being the star than being an onlooker.

"I think we just gave them the big story of the night." Eric chuckled as he slid into the driver's seat.

"Yep, at least they got to see what it looks like when done right. I'm sure those sixteen year old boys have a thing or two to learn." I slid across the bench seat to sit right next to him.

"Not everyone can be an expert right away like me." He nodded with an arrogant smile. I just laughed, Eric was never bad but I'd say both of us had a thing or two to learn when we first started dating.

We headed back to my house so Eric could drop me off. I had every intention of inviting him in, the car ride was just intermission until the real show began.

**a/n: yay! Their first official date since high school! I'm going to have to add another flashback at some point, I still can't get cute and gawky teenager Eric out of my head in his little black Vans sweatshirt lmao. Hope everyone enjoyed, please review. =)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**a/n: I know it's been ages since I updated. When I was updating my stories regulary I had just gotten a new job and was very much in the 'training' phase, therefore not as busy. Now things are in full swing so it is a struggle to get spare time. I want to say a million thanks to the people who love this story and Nightingale enough to PM me and ask for updates. The best part is they are all super polite and understanding about it, and just want to let me know they love reading my work. I love you guys for that! I know some authors have trouble with readers getting rude when impatient, but it turns out my reader are the BEST. 3 So thank you and here's the next chapter! **

Eric pulled into my driveway a couple hours later. We hit some traffic leaving the fair so the ride was longer than before. We talked about absolutely nothing on the way back. That did not mean we were quiet, we just talked about pointless things. We both argued about music, food, and television shows the entire time. It was light hearted and fun. That was the great thing about being with Eric. There could be nothing going on in our lives but we still found things to talk and laugh about. Again, I was so glad Sam was out of my life and Eric was back in it.

We hopped out of the truck and Eric walked me to my door as always. Being the gentleman he was, he kissed me goodnight and got ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" I didn't let go of his hand and pulled him inside with me.

"Well, I didn't want to assume anything…" He chuckled as he stumbled inside.

I shut the door behind us and looked up at him. I never made the first move so I was surprised I dragged him inside like that. But this was Eric, my Eric, I was already comfortable around him. This was the guy I had trusted with my whole heart when I had let my first time be with him. He was the boy I always loved, and the man I was falling in love with all over again.

The way his blue eyes were looking down at me, I knew Eric felt exactly the same way. We had missed out on a lot of time together but from now on we wouldn't let time slip away from us. His fingers tucked my blonde hair behind my ear and he closed the distance between us. The second his lips were against mine it was like a jolt of electricity went through my body. I loved that feeling and Eric was the only guy to ever make me react in such a way.

Our kiss quickly grew into the intense making out we had enjoyed in the fairgrounds parking lot. I brought my hands up into his hair, thoroughly ruining any hairstyle he had. Now that we were not in a public place things were moving more quickly. Eric's hands slid into the back of my shorts as he plastered his body against mine. I could already feel he was hard through his jeans.

We managed to work our way upstairs to my bedroom. Eric lost his shirt along the way and I might have been pinned up against the wall at some point. Those nice new muscles of his were definitely going to come in handy. By the time we fell onto my bed I was ready to go. He still knew exactly what to do in order to get me going. If anything he was more confident now which lead to a few noticeable improvements. I think that was the case for both of us, this time there was no awkward teenage moments to be had.

"I've wanted this for a long time." Eric's voice was lower now and almost raspy. It was insanely sexy.

I was on top of him in the middle of my bed as he pulled my top off. His words made me wonder if he was thinking about me even before the reunion. I lost track of that thought when he undid my bra and his mouth latched onto my nipple. Then he started to gently suck. My fingers dug into his hair again and I moaned. This was nice, having sex with Eric and not worrying about someone walking in on us. I pulled his face back to mine and started to grind my hips against him. Eric responded and his hips thrust up against me.

Then the next thing I knew he had wrapped his arm around me and flipped us over. He moved so quickly I almost had the wind knocked out of me. I couldn't help but giggle as I blew some hair out of my face. Eric smiled down at me and pushed my hair out of my eyes.

"You're really beautiful." I said in a breathy voice, but totally serious. He was perfect.

Eric chuckled. "So are you."

His lips moved down to my neck and I was quickly swept up in the moment again. Right now this all seemed perfect and I wanted it to last forever. Eric started to undo my shorts and I did the same with his jeans.

I lifted my hips off the bed so he could get rid of the rest of my clothes. Eric looked like he wanted to devour me and I'd be down for that program. Feeling a little impatient I only unzipped his jeans before reaching into his boxers to stroke him. He was still the biggest guy I had ever been with but now it was no longer intimidating. My hand twisted slightly and my thumb rubbed over his tip. Eric groaned above me. I knew all the right buttons to push too.

"You feel so good." He mumbled before crashing his lips against mine. They would probably feel bruised later. Eric's hand dipped between my thighs to find I was already soaking wet. Just kissing this man turned me on to no end, all bets were off once clothing started flying. Two of his thick fingers slid into me and it was my turn to moan. He picked up a steady rhythm that had me so distracted I stopped touching him except for when my nails were digging into his back. His fingers along with his thumb on my clit had me coming seconds later.

"Oh my god" I didn't have much else to say. I missed that. Eric was always good at giving just as much as he got. He was a fast learner and he always paid attention to what I liked. Unfortunately over the past few years I learned all guys were not like that.

"I'm not done yet gorgeous." He kissed me but it was an affectionate kiss. His lips were soft against mine and my arms wound around his neck.

"Do you have any condoms?" Eric asked when our kiss broke.

"No but… I'm on the pill and I really don't want to wait anymore." We had been very cautious as teenagers and always used a condom even though I was on birth control. I was never one to take risks. Things were also different now, if something happened I believed we both could handle it. I also trusted Eric would have told me if he had any problems with STDs in the past. I never trusted the other guys I'd been with enough to not use a condom so this would be a first.

"Me either" Eric kissed me slowly and I could feel his tip at my entrance. When he slowly pushed into me it was the most amazing feeling. Without a condom separating us every sensation was magnified.

Eric's eyes were closed and he was very still. My hand reached up to the side of his face, my fingers brushing against his stubble. "You still with me Northman?" I whispered and his eyes opened.

"Mmm, yeah, you just feel too damn good." His burning blue eyes were on mine as he started to move his hips at a steady pace.

This was good and not just because we were without a condom. I was finally with Eric again and all of this felt right. We were two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly in every way. My hips moved up to meet his gentle thrusts and we quickly found a slow rhythm that was the sweetest torture. For awhile we weren't even kissing, just staring into each other's eyes with all of those emotions you just could never put into words.

Then Eric's lips met mine, his tongue sliding over mine before he moved down to my neck. I could feel myself starting to build up to my next orgasm. Eric started to suck on my shoulder and I knew he'd be leaving a mark behind. That fact only turned me on more. I didn't mind him claiming me as his in every way. I always had been.

Suddenly Eric did another one of his speedy ninja moves and I yelped in surprise. His arms slid under my back and he pulled me up with him so he was kneeling in the middle of the bed, with me straddling him. My arms were around his neck and the change in position had him hitting a sweet spot inside me with every thrust. I wouldn't last much longer but took advantage of the opportunity to do a little attacking of my own. I kissed and nibbled over his adam's apple, to the side of his neck and gave him a hickey of his own,sincerely from Sookie Stackhouse.

Eric growled and his grip on me tightened. He increased his pace some and it was just enough to send me over the edge. I could feel my body tightening around him and I was seeing stars. My arms were still hooked around him, my face buried in the crook of his neck as I enjoyed the aftershocks of my high.

After a few more erratic thrusts Eric came shortly after me. We collapsed in a sweaty heap on the bed. Eric was on top of me and still buried inside me. I wrapped my legs around him, not ready for him to go anywhere yet.

"That was…" I didn't even have words for it. Amazing? Perfect? Why didn't we do that the second we saw each other?

"Yeah" Eric agreed breathlessly. Apparently he was speechless just like me.

We stayed like that for a little while, my fingers running through his hair while we both caught our breath. Eventually he rolled off of me but didn't go far.

I looked over at him. Eric was sprawled out on his back and he had this dopey grin on his face. His hair was an absolute mess and there was still a sheen of sweat on his tan skin. I was laying on my side next to him when I felt like I had to kiss him in that moment.

"Just can't get enough can you?" He smirked.

"Nope, there's never enough Northman time for me." I laughed as Eric pulled me into his side. I readjusted so I was resting with my arms on his bare chest. It was quite a nice view and I might never let him put clothes on again.

"Good because I plan on having a repeat of that very soon."

The conversation dwindled to comfortable silence and eventually we fell asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**EPOV**

_Flashback_

I woke up on Christmas morning with a feeling of dread knotting my stomach. My father was coming over for our holiday lunch this year. I was sixteen so this year would only be my second with divorced parents. Last year had been quiet with just me, my mother, and aunt. I had invited Sookie over this year but assumed she would not be able to come. My girlfriend had a normal family so that meant a big Christmas dinner at her house with aunts, grandparents, and cousins. Of course she was too nice to say no and told me she would come by for lunch before going to her Aunt Linda's for dinner. She invited me to go along but I felt guilty leaving my mother alone for the night. She needed someone to be there for her.

As I got up to shower and get dressed I tried to think positive. Part of me was glad I invited Sookie over but the logical part of me knew this would be a mess. My father was going to mess everything up and ruin the day for everyone. I did not want Sookie to have to be around that drama on Christmas.

"Eric! It's already eleven! Get your butt in the shower!" My mother yelled up the stairs. I could sleep until three in the afternoon if she let me. I loved sleeping.

I got my ass into gear and quickly showered. Things were casual for our holidays so I put on a pair of jeans and one of the three button down shirts I owned. It was blue and white plaid, a bit too country for me, but luckily it was made by Vans so that made it cool. I slid my feet into my black sneakers and left my blonde hair the way it always was, a little messy.

"Eric!"My mom needed to chill.

"I'm coming! Geez, it's only 11:30, calm down!" I loved her but sometimes she really annoyed me. I think every teen had that problem with their parents though.

As I stomped downstairs I was grumbling about how parents needed to back off. I had school every damn day, I should be allowed to sleep in on Christmas. When I turned the corner into the kitchen I saw Sookie standing there with a very amused grin on her face.

"Morning sunshine" She smiled and my mother was just shaking her head.

"Hi" I quickly changed my tune. "Merry Christmas" I smiled and wasn't even forcing myself to. Sookie always put me in a good mood.

"Oh, look how quickly Scrooge is losing the attitude." My mother chimed in as she put the last tray of cookies into the oven. I just rolled my eyes while Sookie was giggling at the entire interaction.

"Come on, we can hang out in the living room, away from my _annoying _mother." I could get away with saying things like that because my mom knew I was being sarcastic. We had a really good relationship and had only gotten closer since the divorce with my father.

Sookie and I settled down on the couch in the living room. We had a small Christmas tree that she had helped me decorate with colored lights, ornaments, and candy canes.

"Eric half the candy canes are missing."She eyed the tree which was looking pretty low on candy decorations.

"I might have had a few…or ten of them."I smiled and put my arm around her. "So how was your morning? I'm sure you got up early because you're weird like that."

"I did. I fed Jupiter and opened some gifts with my parents. I also finished wrapping your present." She dug into her purse which was sitting on the floor."Here you go, Merry Christmas Eric."

She handed me a box wrapped in golden paper with a red ribbon. It was very neat and looked like a gift from a Macy's commercial. My own wrapping skills were very poor compared to this. I quickly got up and grabbed her gift from beneath the tree and gave it to her before sitting down on the couch again.

"On the count of three?" I got ready to tear the paper off.

Sookie did the countdown for us. "1, 2…..2 and a half…3!"

We both started shredding the paper off of our gifts. Mine was in a black PacSun box. That was my favorite store in the tiny mall two towns over. I pulled the lid off of the box and inside was a t-shirt I had mentioned liking when we went to the mall. Underneath the shirt was a small photo album. It was full of pictures from this past year. They seemed to be in order and in the first few I looked like such a little kid it was insane. Most of them were of me and Sookie but there was one of showing me how to drive the giant farm tractor and another of me with her entire family on a summer afternoon. That was the kind of family I dreamed about having in the future, hopefully with Sookie.

"This is perfect, thank you." I kissed her and wrapped my hand around hers. "So what do you think?" I asked in reference to her own gift.

"I'm in love with it and think you need to help me put it on right now." She beamed at me and I was relieved she liked it. I had spent weeks trying to think of something nice to get her. I wanted something that was more than some kiddy gift and at least said a little about what she meant to me.

"Okay turn around." I pulled the silver locket out of the box and carefully latched it. "All set."

She turned around and inspected the heart shaped locked with a soft smile.

"Did you open it?"

"It opens?" Sookie reached up to the silver heart and found the tiny clasp to open up the locket it. It popped open and on one side was a tiny picture of us and on the other I found a very small picture of Billie Joe Armstrong from a magazine. I had only put that one in as a joke. Sookie started giggling when she notice the Billie Joe picture.

"This is awesome! I'm never taking it off. My two favorite boys in one necklace." She wrapped me up in the tightest hug known to man, then I heard my Dad's voice as he came into the house.

_End Flashback_

I woke up and it was dark outside. I looked around and the room was unfamiliar. Sookie shifted on top of me and then the haze of sleep started to fade. My current situation explained the dream I just had about Christmas when I was 16. That was the only good memory from that day. Once my father arrived he managed to ruin it all. I carefully got out of bed without waking her and went to the bathroom. Once that was taken care of I found my jeans on the floor and got my cell phone.

Shit, we had been asleep for a couple hours. I had to go home and let the dog out. The poor thing had been inside all day and now well into the night. I really had to get better with keeping her on a schedule. It was my own fault she was having accidents. I pulled on my boxers and jeans then sat down on the edge of the bed. For a few seconds I just watched her sleep. I couldn't believe she was right here and this was all happening again. I had wanted this for a long time but I never really thought it would happen until things ended with Sam. Immediately after the reunion it seemed like a very cruel joke for her to be in my life again but also in a relationship with someone else.

Now I had her back and I would not screw up and let her go this time.

"Sookie….Sookie, wake up." I whispered and gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled lazily up at me.

"Hey" Her hand slid over the sheets until her fingers were hooked through my belt loops. "Why are these back on?"

I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers with hers. "Because I have to go back to my place."

"Whhhy?"She sounded like a five year old whining about something, it was cute.

"To let Maisie outside, she's been cooped up all day since we went to the fair." I explained and she seemed to be waking up some more. "You could come with me though. I won't even make you get dressed just go climb into the truck."

"I'll go with you but I am definitely putting some clothes on." She stuck her tongue out at me then got up to get dressed.

I put on my clothes from earlier in the day but seemed to have lost one sock. I finally kneeled down to check under the bed while Sookie was in the bathroom.

Ha! I found it! The bastard thought he could get away from me by hiding under here, I don't think so. I reached under her bed to grab my sock and noticed a box with my name on it. That was odd… I knew I should leave it be but for some reason I could not resist. I reached under the bed and slid the box out. It was a very old shoe box. Oddly enough I knew exactly what pair of shoes this box used to belong to. It was a pair of sneakers Sookie bought our senior year of high school. I double checked the side of the box and there was Jason's handwriting claiming Sookie was a 'big fat loser'. So this box was exactly the one I remembered.

I opened the lid of the box.

"Eric!" Shit, Sookie had just walked back into the room.

I immediately put the box down on her bed without ever getting a look inside."I'm sorry" I spat out immediately since I had no right to through her things.

"What are you doing? How did you even find that?" She walked over with an overnight bag in one hand. I hoped she would still come over.

"I was looking for my sock…and found it under the bed, then saw the box with my name on it. Of course curiosity got the best of me." I frowned "I didn't see anything inside."

She sighed and sat down next to me. "It's not that big of a deal, but please don't go snooping through my things? That will definitely make me mad at you."

"I promise I won't. I just saw my name on it and my hand had a life of its own. I'll just cut it off next time though." I nudged her with my arm and she cracked a smile. There we go.

"I bet you're dying to see what's inside now." She grinned and held the box in her lap.

Of course I was. I wanted to know what she had kept all this time. It sure looked like she had that box under her bed the entire time she was with Sam. The selfish part of me was very pleased about that. "You know I am, I always try to find things out. So will you open the box for me, pretty please?"

"Mmmm, no, you have to do something for me first." She held the box closer.

"Okay, I promise to give you all the orgasms you could wish for."

"I think I'll be getting that no matter what." She replied and she had me there.

"How about on our way to my place I stop at Harley's and buy you a double chocolate frappe?" That had always been her favorite place for ice cream. It was this dumpy little take-out ice cream parlor one town over that stayed open until two AM. I had no idea why since it seemed like Sookie and I had always been the only people to go there after midnight.

"Alright, that's pretty good, I can settle for that." She nodded and pulled the lid off the box.

Inside there was the locket I had just been thinking about. I lifted up and it seemed smaller in my hands now. Then again my hands had probably doubled in size since I got this for her.

"It's crazy to think I bought this for you thirteen years ago." I mused as I opened up the locket. Inside the picture of Billie Joe had been removed and replaced with one of her old horse Jupiter. I remember her changing it right after he died. On the right half was still a picture of us at 15.

"Might be even crazier that I kept it, even when we weren't together all those years."Her fingers picked up a folded piece of paper that was a bit yellowed with age.

"Why did you?" I could honestly tell her right now I loved her, and I had never stopped loving her. However I had no idea if she was in the same place as me. She had just been dating Sam after all.

"I thought about getting rid of it a few times. I told myself it was silly to keep things from an ex-boyfriend for so long. I even got into a fight with my college boyfriend over it. He found the box in my dorm room and got all upset. So I told him I threw it out but instead I just hid it at my parents over winter break." She explained and unfolded the piece of paper to reveal one of the corny letters I had written her when she was grounded once. "For some reason I always needed a piece of you to hold on to."

I wrapped my arm around her. "I guess we both never really let go. I still have plenty of things you gave me over the years. Now I'm glad I kept it, even if it seemed a little nuts a few months ago."

"Me too" She smiled and kissed me. I would never get tired of that. The feelings I had towards her were unrivaled by any other woman. I was 29 years old and still perfectly content with kissing her for hours on end. I definitely never felt that way about any of the other women I had dated.

"Alright enough sap for one night, lets go get ice cream and take care of Maisie." Sookie announced and put the box back under her bed. I grabbed her bag for her and we headed out to my truck.

We walked up to my house and Sookie was slurping noisily on her chocolate shake. She also refused to share, and made me go buy my own. Harley's late night ice cream had not changed in all these years. The pimple-faced kid behind the counter had but the place was still dead as hell at this hour. I unlocked the door Maisie was standing right there watching us with big brown eyes and wagging her tail. She was definitely getting friendlier.

Once inside I discovered that by some miracle she had not had an accident in the house. I quickly leashed her and brought her outside. Sookie followed along behind me after tossing her empty cup in the trash.

"Mmmm, I'm ready to collapse." She wrapped her arms around me from behind and had her head resting between my shoulder blades.

"Then go to bed" I chuckled and waited for the dog to find just the right patch of grass.

"But then I'd be all alone waiting for you, I'll just wait right here." She mumbled and tightened her grip around me.

After a few minutes Maisie finally took care of business. I wanted to go back inside but decided to wait a few minutes and let her get some fresh air. She had been in the house a lot today.

"I could get used to this you know…. Having you around all the time." I looked up at the night sky. It was perfectly clear tonight and there were millions of stars overhead.

"I would hope so, you're certainly not getting rid of me."

Sookie stepped up beside me and I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Although these mosquitoes biting the hell out of me might make me run for it." She swatted at a few of them but it was pointless. On a humid summer night there was no hope in avoiding the bugs.

"I'll race you back to the house." I grinned and started jogging back as I finished my sentence. I heard her yell cheater behind me but I just kept going. Maisie was bouncing along beside me full of excitement about the new game.

Of course we beat Sookie back but she was a good sport. Early that morning I collapsed in bed with a smile on my face and Sookie curled up next to me.

The next morning we both had work to get to which had me awake at 6AM. You would think we had been living together for years with how routine everything went. We rarely got in each other's way and Sookie knew better than to try and have a deep conversation with me in the morning. I always needed a good hour to really wake up.

I made eggs and bacon while Sookie sat down with a bowl of cereal. She was dressed in business clothes for work.

"What are you staring at?" She asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I've never seen you in work clothes. I like it, you should leave some of it on for later." I put my food onto a plate went to sit across from her.

"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes but was trying to not laugh.

"Dead serious, a pencil skirt and heels is definitely hot."I could go for the sexy librarian look on her.

"Ok well besides sex, do you have any plans tonight?"

"Hmmm… nope, I think that accounts for all my time tonight."I nodded and took a bite of my eggs.

"Do you want to go to my parent's for dinner? They've been asking me to invite you for weeks now."

"Sure, what time?" I shoved an entire piece of bacon into my mouth along with some eggs. Sookie and I were well past trying to look perfect in front of each other all the time.

"Wow that was quickest any man has ever been willing to have dinner with the parents." She laughed.

"It probably doesn't count since I already know them, and they love me." I smiled and finished off my food.

"Very true, I think they wanted to adopt you and toss Jason out the window for awhile. Lucky for us Jess has made him change his ways." Sookie stood up and put her dishes in the sink and took my empty plate as well.

We bother gathered up our things and headed for the door. I really liked having her around all the time.

"It's very unfair that you get to wear jeans to work." She pouted as we walked out.

"I earn it, trust me, working for a family business has it's pitfalls. I get to dress casual but then I have to deal with family drama and it's not even my family." Old Clancy was rarely the problem it was usually his two sons. They disagreed all the time and instead of being professional they just argued like twelve year olds in front of everyone.

"Maybe… alright I'll let you know a time for dinner, I'll call you at lunch."

We hopped into my truck so I could go drop her off at her car before we both went our separate ways for work. I gave her a quick kiss goodbye when she got out of the truck and then went to start my Monday.

I walked into the office and found stacks of paperwork on my desk. There were three new jobs we had to bid on by next week it looked like. All of the paperwork had been thrown onto my desk in a mess, estimate worksheets, job plans… I bet Dumb and Dumber did this. So much for my perfect morning.

With a sigh I put my coffee down and booted up my computer. Then I grabbed some of the plans and went downstairs to the old corner office Clancy was usually holed up in. He was sitting there as usual behind the desk with a pencil and a calculator from 1985. There was no computer in this office and everything looked like it was twenty years old. Clancy hated technology.

"Morning" I dumped two of the plans on his desk. He looked up over his golden rimmed glasses at me.

"What is this?"

"I think you're boys decided to see how much work they could dump on me before I complained." I took a seat across from his desk and tried to not look too grouchy.

"I'm sorry Eric. Those two think they can get off easy because they're family. Don't you worry, I ain't going to let them do that. They sure think they're slick…" He picked up the two plans I had brought downstairs and looked them over. He made a few notes on each one, probably already having his own ideas on how to handle the jobs. Clancy was probably almost a genius with the way he could do math.

"I'll make sure they take one of these of your hands." He nodded and kept one of the packets of paperwork.

"Thank you" I grabbed the one he left and stood to leave.

"What ever happened to that lady you were chasin'?" I could hear the smile in his voice. I turned around and he was grinning, but pretending to look at his papers.

"I'm not chasing her anymore and I'm going to her parent's for dinner."

"That's what I figured." He chuckled and I took that as my cue to leave. He was a good guy and I was glad I took his advice to not back off. If I had just sat around Sookie might still be with Sam.

Sookie called me during my lunch break as promised and we decided to the Stackhouse's at 6 for dinner. She said Jason and Jessica would be there too but without the kids. They were at Jess's parents or something.

**a/n: Sookie's parents finally get to be in the next chapter! Thanks for reading! Also I think that will be it for flashbacks unless something very specific comes up. **


End file.
